Untitled

Charles Swedlund was only two years out of graduate school—at the Institute of Design, where he had studied with Harry Callahan and Aaron Siskind—when Hugh Edwards gave him a 1963 exhibition. The 40 color images in the show reflected Swedlund’s penchant for technical experimentation, with objects deliberately out of focus, multiple exposures, and experiments with water in motion. Among the works was this photograph made at the Maxwell Street flea market, which the press release described as “phantasmagoric—a burst of gaudy flowers exploding against a background of moving cars.” It was one of three Swedlund photographs acquired the following year.