Collected portraits of human endeavor, industrial forms

A baker in Germany from August Sander's lifelong photographic project.

THROUGH SEPT. 14

LOS ANGELES

"August Sander: People of the Twentieth Century" and "Bernd and Hilla Becher: Basic Forms": The J. Paul Getty Museum, which has one of the world's richest photography collections, draws on it for this inspired pairing of work from three of the most influential photographers of the last century. August Sander (1876-1964) had an impossibly ambitious lifelong project: taking portraits of individuals belonging to various professions and other types of human endeavor in his native Germany. The result would be a taxonomy of modern society. Never completed, the undertaking was known as "People of the Twentieth Century" and comprises 650 photographs drawn from some 40,000 negatives. The Getty show has 130 of the portraits. Sander's forthright, classifying vision has a strong affinity with and helped shape the photographic aesthetic of the married couple Bernd and Hilla Becher. (He died last year at 75, she was born in 1934.) What German society was for Sander, industrial architecture - water towers, silos, blast furnaces, gas tanks - has been for the Bechers. Their detached, documentary style can be detected in the work of numerous contemporary photographers. 1200 Getty Center Drive, 310-440-7300, getty.edu.

THROUGH SEPT. 27

PARIS

"Richard Avedon: Photographs 1946-2004" : A master of portraiture and fashion, Avedon may well have been the most famous photographer of the 20th century. How famous? He inspired Fred Astaire's character in the musical "Funny Face." This first retrospective since his death offers 270 examples of his exacting art. 1 Place de la Concorde, 011-33-1-47-03-12-50, jeudepaume.org.

THROUGH OCT. 19

STOCKHOLM

"Faces of Time": Seconds becomes minutes, minutes become hours, and hours days. How do we keep track of them all? Sweden's National Museum shows how, presenting more than 400 time-measuring devices: sundials, hourglasses, clocks, chronometers, and the Swedish king's wristwatch. Södra Blasieholmshamnen, 011-46-8-5195-4310, nationalmuseum.se.

THROUGH OCT. 19

LONDON

"Brief Encounter": In this Kneehigh Theatre production, Emma Rice has adapted David Lean's classic 1946 film of thwarted romance. Set in a rail station tearoom, the production combines elements of both Noel Coward's play "Still Life" and the script for the film, which he took from his play. 63-65 The Haymarket, 011-44-871-230-1562, seebriefencounter.com.

THROUGH NOV. 16

BERLIN

"Pigozzi and the Paparazzi": Paparazzi are the ultimate celebrity photographers, showing the faces we love to see in situations where they don't necessarily want to be seen. The Helmut Newton Foundation is displaying some 350 examples of the genre. While focusing on the paparazzi heyday of the 1960s and '70s, the exhibition also examines the roots of the genre and how it continues to flourish today. Jebensstrasse 2, 011-49-30-3186-4856, helmutnewton.com.

SEPT. 16-DEC. 14

NEW YORK

"Giorgio Morandi, 1890-1964": Morandi ranks with Vermeer, Chardin, and Cézanne as one of the supreme masters of painterly stillness. The Metropolitan Museum is mounting this comprehensive retrospective, the first in the United States, with more than 100 of his works, including paintings, watercolors, drawings, and etchings. 1000 Fifth Ave., at 82nd Street, 212-535-7710, metmuseum.org.

PLAN AHEAD

SEPT. 25-JAN. 18

MONTREAL

"Warhol Live": Andy Warhol's widely seen work of art isn't a painting or a print - it's the cover for the Rolling Stones' album "Sticky Fingers." This exhibition at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts looks at the place of music in Warhol's art, from portraits of such figures as Elvis Presley and Mick Jagger to his album covers to his prominent place on the 1970s New York disco scene. 1380 Sherbrooke St. West, 514-285-2000, mmfa.qc.ca/en.

MARK FEENEY

Events are sometimes canceled, rescheduled, or sold out; call or check online to confirm. Mark Feeney can be reached at feeney@globe.com.