![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/duane-michals-obit-featured-800x420.jpg\")
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Provocative, influential, and prolific American photographer Duane Michals has passed away at 94. <\/p>\n
Michals\u2019 gallerist, DC Moore Gallery, confirmed<\/a> the artist\u2019s death at a hospital on June 9. <\/p>\n \u201cOne of the most influential photographic innovators of the 20th century, Michals is widely celebrated for his work with sequences, multiple exposures, and text,\u201d DC Moore Gallery writes. \u201cMichals first made significant, creative strides in the field of photography during the 1960s. In an era heavily influenced by photojournalism and Henri Cartier-Bresson\u2019s \u2018decisive moment,\u2019 Michals manipulated the medium to communicate narratives.\u201d <\/p>\n Born in Pennsylvania in 1932, Michals graduated from the University of Denver with a degree in graphic design. He spent two years in the United States Army, stationed in Germany. Michals moved to New York City in the 1950s, where he lived for the rest of his life. Michals, openly gay long before it was socially or culturally accepted, lived with his partner, architect Frederick Gorr\u00e9e, for more than 50 years. They were married from 2011 until Gorr\u00e9e died in 2017. <\/p>\n He traveled to the USSR in 1958 with a borrowed camera, discovering his love of photography. After taking portraits of the many people he met on his trip, Michals returned to New York City with a new goal, to become a professional photographer. He held his first solo exhibition in 1963. In 1964, Michals made his celebrated series, \u201cEmpty New York<\/a>.\u201d <\/p>\n Michals was well known for using text as a significant component of his photographic works. The photographer often wrote directly onto his prints, adding poetic context to the artwork. <\/p>\n \u201cI believe the only true knowledge is through experience,\u201d Michals said. \u201cYou read a love story, and then you fall in love \u2014 then you realize the difference. I want to know what something feels like, not what it looks like.\u201d<\/p>\n He was a boundary-pushing photographer throughout his career. Beyond including text on his prints, Michals also incorporated painting, collage, sculpture, and motion pictures into his photography. <\/p>\n \u201cThe focus changes constantly. And the more it changes and the older I get, the less sure I am about everything and the less I seem to know. I seem to ask more questions. I\u2019m completely bewildered,\u201d Michals said. \u201cThat also is a kind of wisdom, allowing oneself to unlearn. My work is about the absurdity of this condition.\u201d <\/p>\n Michals had many successful photographic and artistic ventures throughout his life, leaving behind an expansive and diverse body of work<\/a>. His work was exhibited worldwide at many renowned galleries and museums, including the Odakyu Museum in Tokyo, the International Center of Photography, and the Museum of Modern Art, to name a few. His work is featured in permanent collections across the globe, including the Art Institute of Chicago, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, the National Museum of Modern Art (Kyoto), and more. He published over 40 monographs. <\/p>\n![\"An](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/duane-michals-self-portrait.jpg\")
Duane Michals, self portrait, 2025 <\/p>\n