Motion Study: Rodeo, 1957

In August 1962, Ernst Haas mounted a groundbreaking exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art, presenting to the public for the first time his technicolour perception of the world. This presentation of saturated neon hues blinded and confused our idea of what photography should and could be; it was a severely radical and brave departure for the debonair journalist. Black and white photography had previously dominated the world of museum shows, press and publication and had satisfied what we needed and desired from a ‘good picture’ in all genres, or so we had thought until this epiphany. Haas via his instinctual eye and his choice of the dye transfer process successfully transmitted an explosion of shimmering possibilities, a new clarity and visual experience that now in retrospect can be seen as the litmus test that prepared and perhaps eased the way for such later colour pioneers as William Eggleston.