BEFORE HIS DEATH in 1984, Garry Winogrand was working on a book of photographs he had taken at airports since 1958. Under the direction of his good friend and fellow photographer Lee Friedlander, the project was completed; and to mark the occasion, Fraenkel Gallery has mounted "Airports and Animals," an exhibition of photos from the series, along with others from Winogrand's study of the Bronx Zoo. Winogrand's airport pictures are reminiscent of his photographs taken on the streets of New York City. He captures people in the midst of their everyday lives, in pictures that are revealing, subtle, and at times startling. But as a series, the airport pictures also present a remarkable portrait of mass culture, and the experience of mass transportation in particular, at a time when it was still relatively new. Much of it is still familiar. In Untitled, 1977, people stand with luggage carts in an expansive, sterile, and utilitarian room, waiting for their bags. They're not in line, nor clearly gathered in groups, but rather isolated despite their collectivity. In Kennedy Airport, 1961, a man laughs on the telephone while leaning against the glass door of the phone booth. He presumably lives a nomadic existence and is calling home or contacting the clients he traveled to meet. In Los Angeles International Airport, 1964, a man with children clinging to him and standing behind him holds a sign that reads, "Welcome to California Jane." Across from him is a woman. Is the reunion happy or sad? Shot from Jane's vantage, the scene is full of ambivalence. Why have they been separated? The picture speaks to the alienation of modern families, sometimes across great distances. But other pictures clearly refer to a time now past. In Salt Lake City, 1964, kids play in the hot sun on a lookout over the tarmac while their family waits to greet someone in the group of people coming off a plane. The family is filled with excitement and, juxtaposed with the jet in their carefree playfulness, they evoke a time when air travel still seemed romantic and adventurous – before the airport was riddled with police and the ends of the earth had been reduced to hot spots of the tourist industry. Tues.-Fri., 10:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m., Sat., 11 a.m.-5 p.m., 49 Geary, S.F. (415) 981-2661. (Clark Buckner)