Her Picture in a Frame
William Albert Allard

August 7 - September 27, 2009

Rocky Mountain School of Photography Gallery is honored to announce the upcoming exhibit, Her Picture in a Frame, with renown photographer and writer, William Albert Allard. In 2008, Allard debuted his presence in Missoula at Gallery Saintonge (previously in conjunction with RMSP) with his exhibit Gone West: Work from the American West 1969-2005. Likewise, his current exhibit skims the massive breadth of his work that spanned those same years.

Known in large for his photographs of cowboys and buckaroos, rodeo riders and baseball players, blues musicians and all things gritty; Allard’s vast passion and vigor for life and people extends in all directions – and enduringly on the subject of women. As a significantly masculine good-ole-boy, it is no surprise that a love and fascination with the female pervades his work like an addiction. Such contrast stimulates interesting challenge, as well as perpetual personal satisfaction.

Her Picture in a Frame consists of what Allard refers to as found pictures, many taken at a glance – “made serendipitously, as they occurred, without any request on [his] part, somewhere along the road somewhere in the world.” – such as a restaurant in Paris, backstage at a fashion show, a small village in the Peruvian Andes and a lake in northern Minnesota. While many of the photographs are candid, others were made specifically by request. The concept of portrait here is as diverse as the women portrayed.

Aside from an extensive array of photographic and literary contributions, William Albert Allard has contributed to National Geographic Magazine since 1964, publishing over 40 articles in the magazine with photographs from over 30 countries. Additionally, he has published five books and is nearing completion on his sixth, William Albert Allard: Five Decades, A Retrospective. (In this new book, there is a whole chapter titled and dedicated to work in this exhibition – Her Picture in a Frame.) His photographs are legendary and iconic; one of the few photographers of his generation whose entire professional body of work is in color. Allard currently divides his time living in Charlottesville, Virginia and Missoula, Montana.

Image details: William Albert Allard, Towering Over Bardot, France, 1988