Untitled, [Two Men by Wall]

In Metzker’s striking black-and-white photograph, two men—an officer and a worker—stand beside a weathered city wall, their figures reiterated as dramatic shadows stretching across the frame. The stark interplay of light and dark generates compelling quasi-geometric abstractions, notably the shadow of an unseen curved lamppost tracing a wide arc against the wall’s rough surface. Here, Metzker seizes a moment in which architecture, human presence, and shadow converge into a dreamlike visual symphony. The artist commented, “What appears in my pictures was the subjects’ decision, not mine. I took what they presented—delicate moments—unadorned and unglamorous, yet tender and exquisite.”

Born in Milwaukee, Metzker studied at the Pennsylvania Museum and School of Industrial Art and the Philadelphia College of Art (PCA, later the University of the Arts). He later attended the Institute of Design in Chicago—known at the time as the New Bauhaus—where his mentors included the modernist photographers Harry Callahan and Aaron Siskind. After earning his master’s degree in 1959, Metzker received early recognition from Edward Steichen, then curator of photography at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, which hosted his first solo exhibition in 1967.

Philadelphia remained central to Metzker’s life and career. He taught at PCA and captured many of his iconic street and urban images in the city. His work is in major collections including the Museum of Modern Art, the J. Paul Getty Museum, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and Woodmere.

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