DUANE MICHALS is an American photographer born on this date. Michals’s work makes innovative use of photo-sequences, often incorporating text to examine emotion and philosophy.

Michals’s interest in art began at age 14 while attending watercolor university classes at the Carnegie Institute in Pittsburgh. In 1953, he received a B.A. from the University of Denver. In 1956, after two years in the Army, he went on to study at the Parsons School of Design with a plan to become a graphic designer; however, he did not complete his studies.

He describes his photographic skills as “completely self-taught.” In 1958, while on a holiday in the USSR he discovered an interest in photography. The photographs he made during this trip became his first exhibition held in 1963 at the Underground Gallery in New York City.

Though he has not been involved in gay civil rights, his photography has addressed gay themes. In discussing his notion of the artist’s relationship to politics and power however, Michals feels ultimately that aspirations are useless.

Michals cites Balthus, William Blake, Lewis Carroll, Thomas Eakins, René Magritte, and Walt Whitman as influences on his art. In turn, he has influenced photographers such as David Levinthal and Francesca Woodman.

He is noted for two innovations in artistic photography developed in the 1960s and 1970s. First, he “[told] a story through a series of photos” as in his 1970 book Sequences. Second, he handwrote text near his photographs, thereby giving information that the image itself could not convey.

Michals grew up in McKeesport, Pennsylvania, and currently lives in New York City. He was raised Catholic.

Michals’ partner Frederick Gorrée died in 2017. The two were together since 1960.