MoMA, New York 1973 Presented in a darkened gallery room as a loop slideshow of postcards

FOR RELEASE NOVEMBER 1, 1973:
”UNFAMILIAR PLACES A MESSAGE FROM BILL DANE”
Eighty s l i d e s, reproducing a selection of the photographic postcards made and mailed by Bill Dane in the past three years during his travels around the country and abroad, will be on view at The Museum of Modern Art from November 1 through January 6, 1974.
Unfamiliar Places: A Message from Bill Dane was selected by John Szarkowski, Director of the Museum's Department of Photography, from about 1500 cards recording the photographer's personal observations of Paris, Oakland, Point Richmond, Las Vegas, Baton Rouge, Little Rock and other points of interest, which he sent to about 100 people.
His subjects include public monuments, landscapes, street facades, houses, views of metropolitan centers and of small towns. His trips generally last from a couple of days to a week.
The message consists of a written comment on the back of these cards as well as the picture. "One reason I like to move to shoot is that it's often easier to appreciate the subtle humor in someone else's environment" he wrote on one card (13 May 73). And, earlier, "Needless to say I'm on the road with none of the flair and esprit of Kerouac or Frank, just plugging away at the edge of historical monumentalia. Hot dog & Whooppeee & Howl." (1 F e b . 73).
William Thacher Dane was born in Pasadena (Sierra Madre), California, in 1938. He studied at the University of California at Berkeley where he received his B.A. in Political Science and Art in 1964 and his M.A. in Painting in 1968.
From 1966 until 1972 (1998) he taught painting (drawing), art history and photography at Berkeley High School.
He began to take photographs in 1970 (69) and that same year he included photographs along with his painting and sculpture in a one-man show in San Francisco. In 1972 the Oakland Art Museum exhibited his work in an exhibition called "Mailed Photo Cards.” Dane's work has also been exhibited at the Richmond Art Center in Richmond, California, where he lived, and at Hofstra University, Long Island. In 1967, Mr. Dane won the Lodi Painting Annual in Lodi, California. In 1973 he was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in photography.
Photographs and additional information Department of Public Information, The Museum of Modern Art, 11 W. 53 St.