Photography
Discover photography through curated resources! Access free tutorials, explore books on techniques and theory, learn from iconic photographers, and stay updated with leading journals.
Close-Up and Macro Photography by
In this exhaustive guide to macro photography, respected author and photographer Adrian Davies takes a comprehensive approach to the subject, covering every aspect of the multi-faceted and often complicated world of close-up photography. Everything about Adrian's approach is both practical and diverse, with optimal output always in mind. His coverage of equipment, for example, goes beyond cameras to cover the application of flatbed and film scanners for close-up shots (2D, 3D, reflective and translucent subjects). Seperate sections cover cameras and equipment, lenses, lighting, workflow and image processing. Additionally, a seperate section on 'special subjects' covers techniques for shooting both common macro subjects (including insects, fossils and coins), as well as a range of technical elements such as shiny surfaces, texture, and polarised light. The appendix includes a technical discussion on depth of field, including detailed tables, and a range of optical formulae. Clear, concise and comprehensive, and packed with stunning images, this is a must-have purchase for all photographers looking for professional quality macro results.
Colour Reproduction in Electronic Imaging Systems by
With the move of cinema away from film, the adoption of electronic-based production throughout all media is now complete. In order to exploit its advantages, the accurate definition, measurement and reproduction of colour has become more important than ever to achieve the best fidelity of colour reproduction. This book is concerned with providing readers with all they need to know about colour: how it is perceived and described, how it is measured and generated and how it is reproduced in colour systems. It serves as both a tutorial and a reference book, defining what we mean by colour and providing an explanation of the proper derivation of chromaticity charts and through to the means of ensuring accurate colour management. Key Features: Addresses important theory and common misconceptions in colour science and reproduction, from the perception and characteristics of colour to the practicalities of its rendering in the fields of television, photography and cinematography Offers a clear treatment of the CIE chromaticity charts and their related calculations, supporting discussion on system primaries, their colour gamuts and the derivation of their contingent red, green and blue camera spectral sensitivities Reviews the next state-of-the-art developments in colour reproduction beyond current solutions, from Ultra-High Definition Television for the 2020s to laser projectors with unprecedented colour range for the digital cinema Includes a companion website hosting a workbook consisting of invaluable macro-enabled data worksheets; JPEG files containing images referred to in the book, including colour bars and grey scale charts to establish perceived contrast range under different environmental conditions; and, guides to both the workbook and JPEG files
Context and Narrative in Photography by
However beautiful or technically dazzling your photographs might be, if they don't tell a story, convey an idea or make your viewer stop and think, they are unlikely to make a lasting impression. Context and Narrative in Photography introduces practical methods to help you plan, develop and present meaningful, communicative images. With dozens of examples from some of the world's most thought-provoking photographers, this is a beautiful introduction to a fascinating aspect of photography. Beginning with an exploration of different narrative techniques, you'll be guided through selecting and developing a compelling concept for your project and how it might be conveyed either through a single image or a series of photographs. You'll also learn ways to incorporate signs, symbols and text into your work and how to present the finished piece to best reach your audience. New to this edition are extended projects, additional exercises and discussion questions, expanded case studies, around 25% of the images and an expanded Chapter 6 on integrating text into photographic projects.
Creative black-and-white photography : advanced camera and darkroom techniques by
This revised edition of a master craftsman's guide explains how to solve a wide range of challenging aesthetic problems encountered in black-and-white photography. With uncanny clarity and insight, a series of step-by-step illustrations demonstrate dozens of sophisticated techniques such as film exposure and development control; print contrast, dodging, and burning; bleaching; camera filters; and more. Plus, this updated edition features a brand-new inside perspective on digital vs. traditional black-and-white photography. More comprehensive and authoritative than any other book of its kind, this master course will bring the work of every photographer to new artistic heights.
Digital Image Systems : photography and new technologies at the Düsseldorf School by
In Digital Image Systems, Claus Gunti examines the antagonizing reactions to digital technologies in photography. While Thomas Ruff, Andreas Gursky and Jörg Sasse have gradually adopted digital imaging tools in the early 1990s, other photographers from the Düsseldorf School have remained faithful to film-based technologies. By evaluating the aesthetic and discursive preconditions of this situation and by extensively analyzing the digital work of these three photographers, this book shows that the digital turn in photography was anticipated by the conceptualization of images within systems, and thus offers new perspectives for understanding the »digital revolution«.
Digital Photography Mastery : Do you have a problem trying to get started on your journey to the photography world? by
This manual is being written with the full insight about digital photography and it's unrevealed the right way and secret techniques to help you getting started on your photography business that actually works! Digital Photography Mastery is a step-by-step, paint-by-the-numbers eBook guide showing you how to use the right lenses, equipment and how to get the perfect pictures at any time you ...
The Elements of Photography: understanding and creating sophisticated images by
The greatly revised and expanded edition of The Elements of Photography is a new kind of textbook for a new generation of photographers. Moving far beyond the usual technical manual, Angela Faris Belt dives deep into merging technique and vision, allowing you to master craft while adding meaning to your images. Here you'll really learn to see photographically, expand your creative and conceptual use of apertures and shutter speeds, and choose the right media to create the look and feel you want. The 2ndEdition Includes: A new introductory chapter with thorough explanations and training exercises in metering and exposure Advice throughout the text to help you expand your personal research Extended exploration of how photography's technical attributes affect visual outcomes and the meaning of your images Image discussions that provide additional perspective about the chapter concepts This book provides a wealth of information and guidance to help all photographers improve skills, learn new techniques, and expand ways of seeing. Excellent practical exercises allow you to use the knowledge you'll gain to build a solid portfolio. More than 300 stunning, full-color images including portfolios from over 40 prestigious artists provide visual inspiration and a gorgeous collection of artwork to add to any photography enthusiast's bookshelf. Whether you do fine art or commercial, documentary or editorial, or just enjoy making pictures for yourself, The Elements of Photography will take your images to the next level. ;/LI> Image discussions that provide additional perspective about the chapter concepts This book provides a wealth of information and guidance to help all photographers improve skills, learn new techniques, and expand ways of seeing. Excellent practical exercises allow you to use the knowledge you'll gain to build a solid portfolio. More than 300 stunning, full-color images including portfolios from over 40 prestigious artists provide visual inspiration and a gorgeous collection of artwork to add to any photography enthusiast's bookshelf. Whether you do fine art or commercial, documentary or editorial, or just enjoy making pictures for yourself, The Elements of Photography will take your images to the next level.
Expressive Photography: the Shutter Sisters' guide to shooting from the heart by
When a photograph captivates you and stirs your soul, you know it instinctively. You not only see the image, you feel it. But how do you capture shots like that with your own camera? How do you make your photographs worth the proverbial thousand words? From portraits to landscapes, still-lifes to documentary shots, Expressive Photography will not only show you why certain images sing, but will also teach you how to create your own compelling photographic images-one click at a time. Visually stunning, and unique in its collaborative approach, this book brings the spirit of the immensely popular Shutter Sisters' blog to the printed page through the voice and photography of its founding members.
Gabriel Lippmann's Colour Photography by
Physicist Gabriel Lippmann's (1845-1921) photographic process is one of the oldest methods for producing colour photographs. So why do the achievements of this 1908 Nobel laureate remain mostly unknown outside niche circles? Using the centenary of Lippmann's death as an opportunity to reflect upon his scientific, photographic, and cultural legacy, this book is the first to explore his interferential colour photography. Initially disclosed in 1891, the emergence of this medium is considered here through three shaping forces: science, media, and museums.A group of international scholars reassess Lippmann's reception in the history of science, where he is most recognised, by going well beyond his endeavours in France and delving into the complexity of his colour photography as a challenge to various historiographies. Moreover, they analyse colour photographs as optical media, thus pluralising Lippmann photography's ties to art, cultural and imperial history, as well as media archaeology. The contributors also focus on the interferential plate as a material object in need of both preservation and exhibition, one that continues to fascinate contemporary analogue photographers. This volume allows readers to get to know Lippmann, grasp the interdisciplinary complexity of his colourful work, and ultimately expand his place in the history of photography.
Landscape Photography by
Landscape photography is one of the medium's most popular areas. New technology and techniques have made it possible to interpret the landscape in exciting new ways, and a host of amateur and professional photographers are rising to the challenge. Each volume in this set of four seasonally-themed books is small enough to go anywhere with you, and offers a wealth of tips and tricks alongside stunning contemporary landscape images from a selection of today's best photographers.
Langford's Starting Photography by
Authoritative update of bestselling guide to learning digital or film photography for keen amateurs.
The Manual of Photography by
The tenth edition of The Manual of Photography is an indispensable textbook for anyone who is serious about photography. It is ideal if you want to gain insight into the underlying scientific principles of photography and digital imaging, whether you are a professional photographer, lab technician, researcher or student in the field, or simply an enthusiastic amateur. This comprehensive guide takes you from capture to output in both digital and film media, with sections on lens use, darkroom techniques, digital cameras and scanners, image editing techniques and processes, workflow, digital file formats and image archiving. This iconic text was first published in 1890 and has aided many thousands of photographers in developing their own techniques and understanding of the medium. Now in full colour, The Manual of Photography still retains its clear, reader-friendly style and is filled with images and illustrations demonstrating the key principles. Not only giving you the skills and know-how to take stunning photographs, but will also allowing you to fully understand the science behind the creation of great images.
Monochromatic HDR Photography: Shooting and Processing Black and White High Dynamic Range Photos by
Update: The Kindle version of Monochromatic HDR Photography: Shooting and Processing Black & White High Dynamic Range Photos currently available for sale has been corrected and updated to address formatting issues. Monochromatic HDR Photography is the first book intended to show photographers how to work at the intersection of two up-and-coming trends that are at the forefront of the digital revolution: Black & White and High Dynamic Range imaging. The book explains techniques for extending dynamic range, monochromatic conversion methods and best practices where the two technologies intersect. Since successful digital monochromatic image creation generally requires using the color information inherent in RAW exposures, most case studies will be presented in full color. In addition, Monochromatic HDR Photography provides extensive coverage of the creative vision required to successfully create monochromatic HDR images and the workflow necessary to make art prints from this specialized image making technique.
Photography : the art of composition by
Since the beginning of the twentieth century, photographic composition has been taught mostly by applying the principles from the field of graphic design. But the factor that distinguishes the work of master photographers is their ability to see and describe scenes visually. This book follows contemporary educational methods used to teach fine arts such as drawing and painting, concentrating on teaching the perception of critical visual elements and understanding how they will be rendered photographically. "In many respects, this book can do for photography what Betty Edwards' best-selling "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain" did for drawing. Many people believe that seeing is a mysterious gift, the so-called 'artist's eye." says Krages. The core of the book is a group of sixty exercise that readers perform to learn how to perceive points, lines, and shapes in static and dynamic settings. These exercises are structured enough to push photographers to develop their cognitive abilities while at the same time flexible enough to allow for individual creative expression. They also show the importance of knowing about the subject and provide some history about the specific genres at the heart of each exercise.
Photography Physics and Art in Focus. by
Photography: Physics and Art in Focus uses the art of photography as a point of departure for learning about physics, while also using physics as a point of departure for asking fundamental questions about the nature of photography as an art.
Picture Composition by
Behind each shot there lies an idea or purpose. When setting up a shot, the camera operator can employ a range of visual techniques that will clearly communicate the idea to an audience. Composition is the bedrock of the operator's craft, yet is seldom taught in training courses in the belief that it is an intuitive, personal skill. Peter Ward shows how composition can be learned, to enhance the quality of your work. Based on the author's own practical experience, the book deals with the methods available for resolving practical production questions such as: Does the shot composition accurately reflect the idea that initiated the shot? Will the content and method of presenting the subject accurately convey the idea? Major innovations in television and film production since the previous edition have affected the styles of composition, such as wide-screen and the use of mini DV cameras. These new technologies and their implications for picture composition are addressed in this new edition. A new colour plate section is also being included to update the section on colour. If you are a practising camera operator, trainee camera operator, student or lecturer on a television or film production course, or simply a video enthusiast wishing to progress to a more professional standard you will find this book essential in enhancing the quality of your work.
Reframing Photography: theory and practice by
To fully understand photography, it is essential to study both the theoretical and the technical. In an accessible yet complex way, Rebekah Modrak and Bill Anthes explore photographic theory, history and technique to bring photographic education up-to-date with contemporary photographic practice. Reframing Photography is a broad and inclusive rethinking of photography that will inspire students to think about the medium across time periods, across traditional themes, and through varied materials. Intended for both beginners and advanced students, and for art and non-art majors, and practicing artists, Reframing Photography compellingly represents four concerns common to all photographic practice: vision light/shadow reproductive processes editing/ presentation/ evaluation. Each part includes an extensive and thoughtful essay, providing a broad cultural context for each topic, alongside discussion of photographic examples. Essays introduce the work of artists who use a diverse range of subject matter and a variety of processes (straight photography, social documentary, digital, mixed media, conceptual work, etc.), examine artists' conceptual and technical choices, describe cultural implications and artistic influences, and analyze how these concerns interrelate. Following each essay, each part continues with a "how-to" section that describes a fascinating range of related photographic equipment, materials and methods through concise explanations and clear diagrams. Key Features: case studies featuring profiles of contemporary and historical artists glossary definitions of critical and technical vocabulary to aid learning 'how to' sections provide students with illustrated, step by step guides to different photographic methods, alongside related theory fully up-to-date, with both high and low tech suggestions for activities online resources at: www.routledge.com/textbooks/reframingphotography will update information on equipment and provide further activities, information and links to related sites lavishly illustrated, with over 750 images, including artists' work and examples of photographic processes.
Research in Photography by
A body of photographic work is developed through knowledge gained in exploring the medium: investigating histories and theories of photography, observing the world, reading and listening, taking part in debate and critical reflection. With 150 images bringing together an eclectic range of photographic styles and genres, Fox and Caruana demonstrate how research can lead to fruitful, original photography projects.Designed to help you create better pictures, for portfolio or for profit, Research in Photography offers essential research and communication techniques to complement your technical expertise through a range of practical tools and examples. Two new chapters have been added to this second edition on 'Writing for Research' and 'Commercial Practice', as well as additional coverage discussing how to secure funding and professionalizing research.
RSPB Guide to Digital Wildlife Photography by
This helpful and practical RSPB guide to all aspects of digital wildlife photography is an updated version of our first edition. It is accessibly written by and beautifully illustrated with the work of one of Britain's best known wildlife photographers.The book's elegant design makes the most of the author's incredible photos and informative text. The book discusses all aspects of digital wildlife photography, from equipment, fieldcraft, locations and composition, post-processing and computer manipulation of images, through to getting your photos published.This is the ultimate reference book for all aspiring and established natural history photographers, and will equip its readers with everything they need to know to help them take better digital wildlife photographs.
Speedlights and Speedlites: creativity at lightspeed by
Canon Speedlites and Nikon Speedlights are small, off-camera flashguns that can provide big results - if you know how to use them properly. Acclaimed Boston photographers Lou Jones, Bob Keenan and Steve Ostrowski guide you through the technical and creative aspects of how to get the most out of these powerful tools in this indispensable guide, packed full of inspirational images and comprehensive diagrams of the lighting set ups used to capture them. They are significantly more advanced, lighter and considerably cheaper than a standard flashgun, and have many advantages. They are small (and cheap) enough that a number can be carried in your kit, and they can be used in combination, triggered wirelessly. They use through-the-lens (TTL) metering, which allows you to use the in-camera LCD and histograms to calculate the required power/direction, rather than havng to use a light meter or trial and error. They use proprietary, dedicated technology (from Canon and Nikon) that means there are no compatability issues. Getting the most out of them, however, remains a mystery - most photographers still just use their speedlights in the same way as a standard flash gun. This is where this book comes in.
A Companion to Photography by
The study of photography has never been more important. A look at today's digital world reveals that a greater number of photographs are being taken each day than at any other moment in history. Countless photographs are disseminated instantly online and more and more photographic images are earning prominent positions--and garnering record prices--in the rarefied realm of top art galleries. Reflecting this dramatic increase in all things photographic, A Companion to Photography presents a comprehensive collection of original essays that explore a variety of key areas of current debate around the state of photography in the twenty-first century. Essays are grouped and organized in themed sections--including photographic interpretation, markets, popular photography, documents, and fine art--and provide comprehensive coverage of the subject. Representing a diversity of approaches, essays are written by both established and emerging photographers and scholars, as well as various experts in their respective areas. A Companion to Photography offers scholars and professional photographers alike an essential and up-to-date resource that brings the study of contemporary photography into clear focus.
Good Pictures : a history of popular photography by
A picture-rich field guide to American photography, from daguerreotype to digital. We are all photographers now, with camera phones in hand and social media accounts at the ready. And we know which pictures we like. But what makes a "good picture"? And how could anyone think those old styles were actually good? Soft-focus yearbook photos from the '80s are now hopelessly--and happily--outdated, as are the low-angle portraits fashionable in the 1940s or the blank stares of the 1840s. From portraits to products, landscapes to food pics, Good Pictures proves that the history of photography is a history of changing styles. In a series of short, engaging essays, Kim Beil uncovers the origins of fifty photographic trends and investigates their original appeal, their decline, and sometimes their reuse by later generations of photographers. Drawing on a wealth of visual material, from vintage how-to manuals to magazine articles for working photographers, this full-color book illustrates the evolution of trends with hundreds of pictures made by amateurs, artists, and commercial photographers alike. Whether for selfies or sepia tones, the rules for good pictures are always shifting, reflecting new ways of thinking about ourselves and our place in the visual world.
A Gust of Photo-Philia: photography in the art museum by
Photography was long regarded as a "middlebrow" art by the art institution. Yet, at the turn of the millennium it became the hot, global art of our time. In this book?part institutional history, part account of shifting photographic theories and practices?Alexandra Moschovi tells the story of photography's accommodation in and as contemporary art in the art museum. Archival research of key exhibitions and the contrasting collecting policies of MoMA, Tate, the Guggenheim, the V&A, and the Centre Pompidou offer new insights into how art as photography and photography as art have been collected and exhibited since the 1930s. Moschovi argues that this accommodation not only changed photography's status in art, culture, and society, but also played a significant role in the rebranding of the art museum as a cultural and social site.
The Handbook of Photography Studies by
The Handbook of Photography Studies is a state-of-the-art overview of the field of photography studies, examining its thematic interests, dynamic research methodologies and multiple scholarly directions. It is a source of well-informed, analytical and reflective discussions of all the main subjects that photography scholars have been concerned with as well as a rigorous study of the field's persistent expansion at a time when digital technology regularly boosts our exposure to new and historical photographs alike. Split into five core parts, the Handbook analyses the field's histories, theories and research strategies; discusses photography in academic disciplinary and interdisciplinary contexts; draws out the main concerns of photographic scholarship; interrogates photography's cultural and geopolitical influences; and examines photography's multiple uses and continued changing faces. Each part begins with an introductory text, giving historical contextualization and scholarly orientation. Featuring the work of international experts, and offering diverse examples, insights and discussions of the field's rich historiography, the Handbook provides critical guidance to the most recent research in photography studies.This pioneering and comprehensive volume presents a systematic synopsis of the subject that will be an invaluable resource for photography researchers and students from all disciplinary backgrounds in the arts, humanities and social sciences.
Hippolyte Bayard and the Invention of Photography by
The first English-language volume about Hippolyte Bayard, one of the inventors of photography who helped transform the burgeoning medium into an art form. Hippolyte Bayard (1801-1887) is often characterized as an underdog in the early history of photography. From the outset, his contribution to the invention of the medium was eclipsed by others such as Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre (1787-1851) and William Henry Fox Talbot (1800-1877). However, Bayard had an undeniable role in the birth of photography and its subsequent evolution into a form of art. He was a pioneer in artistic style, innovator in terms of practice, and teacher of the next generation of photographers. Alongside an exploration of Bayard's decades-long career and lasting impact, this volume presents--for the first time in print--some of the earliest photographs in existence. An album containing nearly 200 images, 145 of those by or attributed to Bayard, is among the Getty Museum's rarest and most treasured photographic holdings. Few prints have ever been seen in person due to the extreme light sensitivity of Bayard's experimental processes, making this an essential reference for scholars and enthusiasts of the very beginning of photography. This volume is published to accompany an exhibition on view at the J. Paul Getty Museum at the Getty Center from April 9 to July 7, 2024.
The Historian's Eye: photography, history, and the American present by
Between 2009 and 2014, as the nation contemplated the historic election of Barack Obama and endured the effects of the Great Recession, Matthew Frye Jacobson set out with a camera to explore and document what was discernible to the "historian's eye" during this tumultuous period. Having collected several thousand images, Jacobson began to reflect on their raw, informal immediacy alongside the recognition that they comprised an archive of a moment with unquestionable historical significance. This book presents more than 100 images alongside Jacobson's recollections of their moments of creation and his understanding of how they link past, present, and future. Jacobson's documentary work between 2009 and 2014 tracked in real time the emergence of what we now know as Trumpism. The images reveal diverse expressions of civic engagement that are emblematic of the aspirations, expectations, promises, and failures of this period in American history. Myriad closed businesses and abandoned storefronts stand as public monuments to widespread distress; omnipresent, expectant Obama iconography articulates a wish for new national narratives; flamboyant street theater and wry signage bespeak a common impulse to talk back to power. Framed by an introductory essay, these images reflect the sober grace of a time that seems perilous, but in which "hope" has not ceased to hold meaning.
A History of Light: the idea of photography by
When was photography invented, in 1826 with the first permanent photograph? If we depart from the technologically oriented accounts and consider photography as a philosophical discourse an alternative history appears, one which examines the human impulse to reconstruct the photographic or "the evoking of light". It's significance throughout the history of ideas is explored via the Platonic Dialogues, Iamblichus' theurgic writings, and Marsilio Ficino's texts. This alternative history is not a replacement of other narratives of photographic history but rather offers a way of rethinking photography's ontological instability.
How Photography Became Contemporary Art: inside an artistic revolution from Pop to the digital age by
A leading critic's inside story of "the photo boom" during the crucial decades of the 1970s and '80s "Grundberg . . . is a vibrant, opinionated, authoritative guide to the medium's past and present."--Jackie Wullschläger, Financial Times, "Best Books of 2021: Visual Arts" When Andy Grundberg landed in New York in the early 1970s as a budding writer, photography was at the margins of the contemporary art world. By 1991, when he left his post as critic for the New York Times, photography was at the vital center of artistic debate. Grundberg writes eloquently and authoritatively about photography's "boom years," chronicling the medium's increasing role within the most important art movements of the time, from Earth Art and Conceptual Art to performance and video. He also traces photography's embrace by museums and galleries, as well as its politicization in the culture wars of the 1980s and '90s. Grundberg reflects on the landmark exhibitions that defined the moment and his encounters with the work of leading photographers--many of whom he knew personally--including Gordon Matta-Clark, Cindy Sherman, and Robert Mapplethorpe. He navigates crucial themes such as photography's relationship to theory as well as feminism and artists of color. Part memoir and part history, this perspective by one of the period's leading critics ultimately tells a larger story about the crucial decades of the 1970s and '80s through the medium of photography.
The Instant and Its Shadow : a Story of Photography. by
Via the story of two images separated by a century, Jean-Christophe Bailly's The Instant and Its Shadow is a poetic and theoretical reflection on the origins of photographic technique, the imaginative power of montage, and the relation of photography to time itself.
On Photography by
Walter Benjamin's 1931 essay "A Short History of Photography" is a landmark in the understanding and criticism of the medium, offering surprising new takes on such photographic pioneers as David Octavius Hill and Nicéphore Niépce and their aesthetic and technical achievements. On Photography presents a new translation of that essay along with a number of other writings by Benjamin, some of them presented in English for the first time. Translator and editor Esther Leslie sets Benjamin's work in context with prefaces to each piece and contributes a substantial introduction that considers Benjamin's engagement with photography in all its forms, including early commercial studio photography, the uses of photography in science, and much more.
Photography and Other Media in the Nineteenth Century by
In this volume, leading scholars of photography and media examine photography's vital role in the evolution of media and communication in the nineteenth century. In the first half of the nineteenth century, the introduction of telegraphy, the development of a cheaper and more reliable postal service, the rise of the mass-circulation press, and the emergence of the railway dramatically changed the way people communicated and experienced time and space. Concurrently, photography developed as a medium that changed how images were produced and circulated. Yet, for the most part, photography of the era is studied outside the field of media history. The contributors to this volume challenge those established disciplinary boundaries as they programmatically explore the intersections of photography and "new media" during a period of fast-paced change. Their essays look at the emergence and early history of photography in the context of broader changes in the history of communications; the role of the nascent photographic press in photography's infancy; and the development of photographic techniques as part of a broader media culture that included the mass-consumed novel, sound recording, and cinema. Featuring essays by noteworthy historians in photography and media history, this discipline-shifting examination of the communication revolution of the nineteenth century is an essential addition to the field of media studies. In addition to the editors, contributors to this volume are Geoffrey Batchen, Geoffrey Belknap, Lynn Berger, Jan von Brevern, Anthony Enns, André Gaudreault, Lisa Gitelman, David Henkin, Erkki Huhtamo, Philippe Marion, Peppino Ortoleva, Steffen Siegel, Richard Taws, and Kim Timby.
Photography off the scale : technologies and theories of the mass image by
These essays address the epistemological, aesthetic and political implications of scale in both scholarly and artistic work. From the mass image in vernacular culture to transformations of photography in contexts of big data and artificial intelligence, they explore the massification of photography.
Archive, Photography and the Language of Administration by
This alternative study of archive and photography brings many types of image assemblages into view, always in relation to the regulated systems operating within the institutional milieu. The archive catalogue is presented as a critical tool for mapping image time, and the language of image description is seen as having a life, a worth and an aesthetic value of its own. Functioning at the intersection of text and image, the book combines media culture, archival techniques, and contemporary discourse on art and conceptual writing.
Black Matrilineage, Photography, and Representation by
Black Matrilineage, Photography, and Representation questions how the Black female body, specifically the Black maternal body, navigates interlocking structures that place a false narrative on her body and that of her maternal ancestors. Drawing on a wide range of scholarly inquiry and contemporary art, this book addresses these misconceptions and fills in the gaps that exist in the photographic representation of Black motherhood, mothering, and mutual care within Black communities. The essays and interviews, paired with a curated selection of images, address the complicated relationship between Blackness and photography and in particular its gendered dimension, its relationship to health, sexuality, and digital culture ? primarily in the context of racialized heteronormativity. This collection, then, challenges racist images and discourses, both historically and in its persistence in contemporary society, while reclaiming the innate brilliance of Black women through personal stories, history, political acts, connections to place, moments of pleasure, and communal celebration. This visual exploration of Black motherhood through pictures made by Black woman?identifying photographers thus serves as a reflection of the past and a portal to the future and contributes to recent scholarship on the complexity of Black life and Black joy. This book emerges from the project Women Picturing Revolution. For more information, visit womenpicturingrevolution.com Contributing authors: Tomi Akitunde (founder and editor-in-chief of mater mea), Grace Aneiza Ali (New York University), Emily Brady (University of Nottingham), Lesly Deschler Canossi (Women Picturing Revolution), Nicole J. Caruth (independent curator), Haile Eshe Cole (University of Connecticut), Atalie Gerhard (Saarland University), Kellie Carter Jackson (Wellesley College), Régine Michelle Jean-Charles (Northeastern University), Rachel Lobo (York University), Zoraida Lopez-Diago (Women Picturing Revolution), Salamishah Tillet (Rutgers University), Scheherazade Tillet (A Long Walk Home), Brie McLemore (University of California, Berkeley), Renée Mussai (Autograph London), Marly Pierre-Louis (independent curator), Jonathan Michael Square (Parsons School of Design), Susan Thompson (independent curator), Jennifer Turner (Hollins University), Sasha Turner (Johns Hopkins University), Rhaisa Kameela Williams (Princeton University) Contributing artists: Nydia Blas, Samantha Box, Renee Cox, Andrea Chung, Nona Faustine, Adama Delphine Fawundu, vanessa german, Ayana V. Jackson, Lebohang Kganye, Deana Lawson, Qiana Mestich, Marcia Michael, Zanele Muholi, Wangechi Mutu, Keisha Scarville, Mickalene Thomas, Mary Sibande, Carrie Mae Weems, Deborah Willis.
Camera Palaestina: photography and displaced histories of Palestine by
A free open access ebook is available upon publication. Learn more at www.luminosoa.org. Camera Palaestina is a critical exploration of Jerusalemite chronicler Wasif Jawhariyyeh (1904-1972) and his seven photography albums entitled The Illustrated History of Palestine. Jawhariyyeh's nine hundred images narrate the rich cultural and political milieu of Ottoman and Mandate Palestine. Nassar, Sheehi, and Tamari locate this archive at the juncture between the history of photography in the Arab world and the social history of Palestine. Shedding new light on this foundational period, the authors explore not just major historical events and the development of an urban bourgeois lifestyle but a social field of vision of Palestinian life as exemplified in the Jerusalem community. Tracking the interplay between photographic images, the authors offer evidence of the unbroken field of material, historical, and collective experience from the living past to the living present of Arab Palestine.
Contact Zones:photography, migration, and cultural encounters in the u.s. by
Since the mid-nineteenth century photography has had a central place in cultural encounters within and between migrant communities. Migrant histories have been mediated through the photographic image, and the cultural practices of photography have themselves been transformed as migrant communities mobilise the photographic image to navigate experiences of cultural dislocation and the forging of new identities. Exploring photographic images and the cultural practices of photography as 'contact zones' through which cultural exchange and transformation takes place, this volume addresses the role of photography in migrant histories in the United States from the mid-nineteenth century to today. Taking as its focal point photography's role in shaping migrant experiences of cultural transformation, and in turn how migrant experiences have re-configured culturally differentiated practices of photography, case studies on migration from Europe, Central America, and North America position photography as entwined with cultural histories of migration and cultural transformation in the United States. Free ebook available at OAPEN Library, JSTOR and Project Muse Contributors: Sarah Bassnett (Western University), David Bate (University of Westminster), Justin Carville (Institute of Art, Design & Technology, Dun Laoghaire), Erina Duganne (Texas State University), Orla Fitzpatrick (National Museum of Ireland), Bridget Gilman (San Diego State University), Aleksandra Idzior (University of Fraser Valley), Alexandra Irimia (University of Western Ontario), Sandra Kri?i? Roban (Institute of Art History, Zagreb), Sigrid Lien (University of Bergen), Helene Roth (Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität Munich), Leslie Ureña (Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery)
The culture of photography in public space by
Photography as an art has become complex terrain upon which anxieties about public space have been played out. Yet the photographic threat is not limited to the image alone. A range of social, technological, and political issues converge in these rising anxieties and affect the practice, circulation, and consumption of contemporary public photography today. The culture of photography in public space collects essays and photographs that offer a new response to these restrictions and to the anxieties that give rise to them.
Digital Wildlife Photography by
Using a combination of artistic approach and impeccable technique, professional photographers John and Barbara Gerlach guide you through the field as you photograph intriguing and captivating subjects out in the wild. Learn how to integrate equipment with technique to capture superb wildlife images of birds, mammals, amphibians, and more, with an emphasis on precision and speed. This book includes all of the details you need to capture wildlife photos easily and consistently - choose the right lens and best lighting while following simple composition guidelines that are perfect for wildlife. John and Barbara Gerlach have taken more than a million wildlife images since 1978 and run seminars and workshops all over the world. Their pictures have been published in Outdoor Photographer, Audubon, Popular Photography National Wildlife, Sierra, Natural History, Petersen's Photographic, Ranger Rick, Birder's World, as well as books published by National Geographic Society, Sierra Club and others.
Disturbed Ecologies: photography, geopolitics, and the northern landscape in the era of environmental crisis by
The imaginaries of northern landscape have not remained static in the era of ecological crisis but play a pivotal function within the geopolitics of visual representation. Such imaginaries can sanction those dominant discourses that frame environmental catastrophe as the consequence of undifferentiated human activity, but, it is argued, they also have the capacity to represent a complexity and heterogeneity frequently absent from this broad discursive field. The contributors to this volume engage with the practice, curation and utilization of photography and other lens-based media, to examine the critical role of visual culture in shaping and interrogating conceptions of environmental catastrophe.
Fifty Key Writers on Photography by
Fifty Key Writers on Photography is a clear and concise survey of some of the most significant writers on photography who have played a major part in defining and influencing our understanding of the medium. It provides a succinct overview of writing on photography from a diverse range of disciplines and perspectives and examines the shifting perception of the medium over the course of its 170 year history.
Framed Spaces: photography and memory in contemporary installation art by
While earlier theorists held up "experience" as the defining character of installation art, few people have had the opportunity to walk through celebrated installation pieces from the past. Instead, installation art of the past is known through archival photographs that limit, define, and frame the experience of the viewer. Monica E. McTighe argues that the rise of photographic-based theories of perception and experience, coupled with the inherent closeness of installation art to the field of photography, had a profound impact on the very nature of installation art, leading to a flood of photography- and film-based installations. With its close readings of specific works, Framed Spaces will appeal to art historians and theorists across a broad spectrum of the visual arts.
Imaging Culture: photography in Mali, West Africa by
Imaging Culture is a sociohistorical study of the meaning, function, and aesthetic significance of photography in Mali, West Africa, from the 1930s to the present. Spanning the dynamic periods of colonialism, national independence, socialism, and democracy, its analysis focuses on the studio and documentary work of professional urban photographers, particularly in the capital city of Bamako and in smaller cities such as Mopti and Ségu. Featuring the work of more than twenty-five photographers, it concentrates on those who have been particularly influential for the local development and practice of the medium as well as its international popularization and active participation in the contemporary art market. Imaging Culture looks at how local aesthetic ideas are visually communicated in the photographers' art and argues that though these aesthetic arrangements have specific relevance for local consumers, they transcend geographical and cultural boundaries to have value for contemporary global audiences as well. Imaging Culture is an important and visually interesting book which will become a standard source for those who study African photography and its global impact.
The Insubordination of Photography: documentary practices under Chile's dictatorship by
Latin American Studies Association Visual Culture Section Best Book Prize Latin American Studies Association Historia Reciente y Memoria Section Best Book Prize Honorable Mention, Conference on Latin American History Susan M. Socolow and Lyman L. Johnson Prize The role of documentary photography in exposing and protesting the crimes of a dictatorship After Augusto Pinochet rose to power in Chile in 1973, his government abducted, abused, and executed thousands of his political opponents. The Insubordination of Photography is the first book to analyze how various collectives, organizations, and independent media used photography to expose and protest the crimes of Pinochet's authoritarian regime. Ángeles Donoso Macaya discusses the ways human rights groups such as the Vicariate of Solidarity used portraits of missing persons in order to make forced disappearances visible. She also calls attention to forensic photographs that served as incriminating evidence of government killings in the landmark Lonquén case. Donoso Macaya argues that the field of documentary photography in Chile was challenged and shaped by the precariousness of the nation's politics and economics and shows how photojournalists found creative ways to challenge limitations imposed on the freedom of the press. In a culture saturated by disinformation and cover-ups and restricted by repression and censorship, photography became an essential tool to bring the truth to light. Featuring never-before-seen photographs and other archival material, this book reflects on the integral role of images in public memory and issues of reparation and justice. A volume in the series Reframing Media, Technology, and Culture in Latin/o America, edited by Héctor Fernández L'Hoeste and Juan Carlos Rodríguez
Latinx Photography in the United States by
Shortlisted for the 2022 ASAP Book Prize, sponsored by the Association for the Study of Arts of the PresentShowcases the exceptionally diverse photographic work of Latinx artistsWhether at UFW picket lines in California's Central Valley or capturing summertime street life in East Harlem Latinx photographers have documented fights for dignity and justice as well as the daily lives of ordinary people. Their powerful, innovative photographic art touches on family, identity, protest, borders, and other themes, including the experiences of immigration and marginalization common to many of their communities. Yet the work of these artists has largely been excluded from the documented history of photography in the United States.Through individual profiles of more than eighty photographers from the early history of the photographic medium to the present, Elizabeth Ferrer introduces readers to Latinx portraitists, photojournalists, and documentarians and their legacies. She traces the rise of a Latinx consciousness in photography in the 1960s and '70s and the growth of identity-based approaches in the 1980s and '90s. Ferrer argues that in many cases a shared sense of struggle has motivated photographers to work purposefully, driven by a deep sense of resistance, social and political commitments, and cultural affirmation, and she highlights the significance of family photos to their approaches and outlooks. Works range from documentary and street photography to narrative series to conceptual projects. Latinx Photography in the United States is the first book to offer a parallel history of photography, one that no longer lies at the margins but rather plays a crucial role in imagining and creating a broader, more inclusive American visual history.
No power without an image : icons between photography and film by
"The first detailed study of what filmic images can tell us about iconic photographs, No Power Without an Image reveals the multifaceted connections between seven celebrated photographs of political struggles, taken between 1936 and 1968, and cinema in all its forms. Moving from the 'paper cinema' of magazines via newsreels and film journals, to documentary, fiction and experimental films, this fascinating book draws on original archival research and multidisciplinary icon theory to explore new ways of thinking about the confluence of still and moving images"-- Provided by publisher.
Old Fields : Photography, Glamour, and Fantasy Landscape by
Glamour subverts convention. Models, images, and even landscapes can skew ordinary ways of seeing when viewed through the lens of photography, suggesting new worlds imbued with fantasy, mystery, sexuality, and tension. In Old Fields, John Stilgoe--one of the most original observers of his time--offers a poetic and controversial exploration of the generations-long effort to portray glamour. Fusing three forces in contemporary American culture--amateur photography after 1880; the rise of glamour and fantasy; and the often-mysterious quality of landscape photographs--Stilgoe provides a wide-ranging yet concentrated take on the cultural legacy of our photographic history. Through the medium of "shop theory"--the techniques, tools, and purpose-made equipment a maker uses to realize intent--Stilgoe looks at the role of Eastman Kodak in shaping the ways photographers purchased cameras and films, while also mapping the divisions that were created by European-made cameras. He then goes on to argue that with the proliferation of digital cameras, smart phones, and Instagram, young people's lack of knowledge about photographic technique is in direct correlation to their lack of knowledge of the history of glamour photography. In his exploration of the rise of glamour and fantasy in contemporary American culture, Stilgoe offers a provocative and very personal look into his enduring fascination with, and the possibilities inherent in, creating one's own images.
The Paradox of Photography by
The Paradox of Photography analyzes the discourse on photography by four of the most important modern French poets and theorists (Baudelaire, Breton, Barthes and Valéry). It stresses in particular the importance of this visual language for the development of both new forms of narrative and original critical studies on issues of representation in art.
Photographic Returns : racial justice and the time of photography by
In Photographic Returns Shawn Michelle Smith traces how historical moments of racial crisis come to be known photographically and how the past continues to inhabit, punctuate, and transform the present through the photographic medium in contemporary art. Smith engages photographs by Rashid Johnson, Sally Mann, Deborah Luster, Lorna Simpson, Jason Lazarus, Carrie Mae Weems, Taryn Simon, and Dawoud Bey, among others. Each of these artists turns to the past--whether by using nineteenth-century techniques to produce images or by re-creating iconic historic photographs--as a way to use history to negotiate the present and to call attention to the unfinished political project of racial justice in the United States. By interrogating their use of photography to recall, revise, and amplify the relationship between racial politics of the past and present, Smith locates a temporal recursivity that is intrinsic to photography, in which images return to haunt the viewer and prompt reflection on the present and an imagination of a more just future.
Photography, Trace, and Trauma by
Photography is often associated with the psychic effects of trauma: the automatic nature of the process, wide-open camera lens, and light-sensitive film record chance details unnoticed by the photographer--similar to what happens when a traumatic event bypasses consciousness and lodges deeply in the unconscious mind. Photography, Trace, and Trauma takes a groundbreaking look at photographic art and works in other media that explore this important analogy. Examining photography and film, molds, rubbings, and more, Margaret Iversen considers how these artistic processes can be understood as presenting or simulating a residue, trace, or "index" of a traumatic event. These approaches, which involve close physical contact or the short-circuiting of artistic agency, are favored by artists who wish to convey the disorienting effect and elusive character of trauma. Informing the work of a number of contemporary artists--including Tacita Dean, Jasper Johns, Mary Kelly, Gabriel Orozco, and Gerhard Richter--the concept of the trace is shown to be vital for any account of the aesthetics of trauma; it has left an indelible mark on the history of photography and art as a whole.
Photography after Photography: gender, genre, and history by
Presenting two decades of work by Abigail Solomon-Godeau, Photography after Photography is an inquiry into the circuits of power that shape photographic practice, criticism, and historiography. As the boundaries that separate photography from other forms of artistic production are increasingly fluid, Solomon-Godeau, a pioneering feminist and politically engaged critic, argues that the relationships between photography, culture, gender, and power demand renewed attention. In her analyses of the photographic production of Cindy Sherman, Robert Mapplethorpe, Susan Meiselas, Francesca Woodman, and others, Solomon-Godeau refigures the disciplinary object of photography by considering these practices through an examination of the determinations of genre and gender as these shape the relations between photographers, their images, and their viewers. Among her subjects are the 2006 Abu Ghraib prison photographs and the Cold War-era exhibition The Family of Man, insofar as these illustrate photography's embeddedness in social relations, viewing relations, and ideological formations.
Photography and Death: framing death throughout history by
Photography represents a medium in which the moment of death can be captured and preserved, the image becoming a mechanism through which audiences are beguiled by the certainty of their own mortality. Examining a spectrum of post-mortem images, Photography and Deathconsiders various ways in which the death image has been framed and what these styles communicate about changing social attitudes related to dying, mourning and the afterlife. Presenting a fresh perspective on how we might view death photography in the context of our contemporary cultural milieu, this book brings together a range of historical examples to create a richer narrative of how we see, understand and discuss death in both the private and public forum. Building upon existing publications which relate explicitly to the study of death, dying and cultures of mourning, the book discusses topics such as post-mortem portraiture, the Civil War, Spiritualism and lynching. These are positioned alongside contemporary representations of death, as seen in celebrity death images and forensic photography. Uncovering an important historical contrast, in which modern notions of death are a comment on ownership or an emotionless, clinical state, Harris highlights the various ways that the deceased body is a site of contestation and fascination. An engaging read for students and researchers with an interest in death studies, this book represents a unique account of the various ways that attitudes about death have been shaped through the photographic image.
Photography As Critical Practice Notes on Otherness by
The "other" is a topic of great interest within and across contemporary photographic practice and theory, yet it remains neglected outside the now well-established field of postcolonial studies. This volume brings together photography and written essays that relate to aspects of otherness and visual work. Presented together, the images and critical writings work in concert to construct a new social perspective on questions of otherness and alterity and to highlight photography as a form of critical practice. In a departure from existing conceptions of otherness in postcolonial discourse, Photography as Critical Practice places emphasis on the human condition not as a liberal concept, but as something formed and framed by a broader dimension of social, sexual, and cultural otherness. In this way, the book provides a fascinating new vista on the otherness of photography.
Projecting Citizenship: photography and belonging in the British Empire by
In Projecting Citizenship, Gabrielle Moser gives a comprehensive account of an unusual project produced by the British government's Colonial Office Visual Instruction Committee at the beginning of the twentieth century--a series of lantern slide lectures that combined geography education and photography to teach schoolchildren around the world what it meant to look and to feel like an imperial citizen. Through detailed archival research and close readings, Moser elucidates the impact of this vast collection of photographs documenting the land and peoples of the British Empire, circulated between 1902 and 1945 in classrooms from Canada to Hong Kong, from the West Indies to Australia. Moser argues that these photographs played a central role in the invention and representation of imperial citizenship. She shows how citizenship became a photographable and teachable subject by tracing the intended readings of the images that the committee hoped to impart to viewers and analyzing how spectators may have used their encounters with these photographs for protest and resistance. Interweaving political and economic history, history of pedagogy, and theories of citizenship with a consideration of the aesthetic and affective dimensions of viewing the lectures, Projecting Citizenship offers important insights into the social inequalities and visual language of colonial rule.
Remote Capture: digitising documentary heritage in challenging locations by
This is a must-read how-to guide if you are planning to embark on a scholarly digitisation project. Tailored to the specifications of the British Library's EAP (Endangered Archives Programme) projects, it is full of sound, practical advice about planning and carrying out a successful digitisation project in potentially challenging conditions. From establishing the scope of the project, via practical considerations about equipment, work routines, staffing, and negotiating local politics, to backing up your data and successfully completing your work, Remote Capture walks you through every stage. Bursting with helpful hints, advice and experiences from people who have completed projects everywhere around the globe from Latin America to Africa to Asia, this book offers a taste of the challenges you might encounter and the best ways to find solutions. With a particular focus on the process of digitisation, whether using a camera or a scanner, Remote Capture is invaluable reading for anybody considering such a project. It will be particularly useful to those who apply for an EAP grant, but the advice in these pages is necessary for anyone wondering how to go about digitising an archive.
The Violence of Colonial Photography by
SHORTLISTED FOR THE BRITISH ACADEMY BOOK PRIZE FOR GLOBAL CULTURAL UNDERSTANDING 2023 The late nineteenth century witnessed a rapid increase in colonial conflicts throughout the French and British empires. It was also the period in which the first mass-produced cameras became available. Colonial authorities were quick to recognise the power of this new technology, which they used to humiliate defeated opponents and project an image of supremacy across the world. Drawing on a wealth of visual materials, from soldiers' personal albums to the collections of press agencies and government archives, The violence of colonial photography offers a new account of how conflict photography developed in the decades before the First World War. It explores the ways the camera was used to impose order on subject populations in Africa and Asia and to generate propaganda for the public in Europe, where a visual economy of violence was rapidly taking shape. At the same time, the book reveals how photographs could escape the intentions of their creators, offering a means for colonial subjects to push back against oppression.
Virtual Photography: Artificial Intelligence, In-game, and Extended Reality by
While it has traditionally been seen as a means of documenting an external reality or expressing an internal feeling, photography is now capable of actualizing never-existed pasts and never-lived experiences. Thanks to the latest photographic technologies, we can now take photos in computer games, interpolate them in extended reality platforms, or synthesize them via artificial intelligence. To account for the most recent shifts in conceptualizations of photography, this book proposes the term virtual photography as a binding theoretical framework, defined as a photography that retains the efficiency and function of real photography (made with or without a camera) while manifesting these in an unfamiliar or noncustomary form.
Agnes Varda Between Film, Photography, and Art by
Agnès Varda is a prolific film director, photographer, and artist whose cinematic career spans more than six decades. Today she is best known as the innovative "mother" of the French New Wave film movement of the 1950s and '60s and for her multimedia art exhibitions. Varying her use of different media, she is a figure who defies easy categorization. In this extensively researched book, Rebecca J. DeRoo demonstrates how Varda draws upon the histories of art, photography, and film to complicate the overt narratives in her works and to advance contemporary cultural politics. Based on interviews with Varda and unparalleled access to Varda's archives, this interdisciplinary study constructs new frameworks for understanding one of the most versatile talents in twentieth and twenty-first century culture.
Alfredo Boulton by
This lavishly illustrated volume examines the work of the Venezuelan photographer and art historian Alfredo Boulton, one of the main intellectuals of Latin American modernity. Alfredo Boulton (1908-1995) is considered one of the most important champions of modern art in Venezuela and a key intellectual of twentieth-century modernism. He was a pioneer of modern photography, an art critic, a researcher and historian of Venezuelan art, a friend to many of the great artists and architects of the twentieth century, and an expert on the imagery of the heroes of his country's independence. Yet, Boulton is shockingly underrecognized outside of his native land. The few exhibitions related to his work have focused exclusively on his photographic production; never has there been a project that looks at the full range of Boulton's efforts, foregrounding his influence on the shaping of Venezuelan art. This volume addresses these lacunae by analyzing Boulton's groundbreaking photographic practice, his central role in the construction of a modern national artistic canon, and his influence in formalizing and developing art history and criticism in Venezuela. Based on the extensive materials held in Boulton's archive at the Getty Research Institute, Alfredo Boulton brings together essays by leading scholars in the field to offer a commanding, original perspective on his contributions to the formation of a distinctive modernity at home and beyond. This volume is published to accompany an exhibition on view at the Getty Research Institute at the Getty Center from August 29, 2023, to January 21, 2024.
Arthur Tress: rambles, dreams, and shadows by
This richly illustrated volume is the first critical look at the early career of Arthur Tress, a key proponent of magical realism and staged photography. Arthur Tress (b. 1940) is a singular figure in the landscape of postwar American photography. His seminal series, The Dream Collector, depicts Tress's interests in dreams, nightmares, fantasies, and the unconscious and established him as one of the foremost proponents of magical realism at a time when few others were doing staged photography. This volume presents the first critical look at Tress's early career, contextualizing the highly imaginative, fantastic work he became known for while also examining his other interrelated series: Appalachia: People and Places; Open Space in the Inner City; Shadow; and Theater of the Mind. James A. Ganz, Mazie M. Harris, and Paul Martineau plumb Tress's work and archives, studying ephemera, personal correspondence, unpublished notes, diaries, contact sheets, and more to uncover how he went from earning his living as a social documentarian in Appalachia to producing surreal work of "imaginative fiction." This abundantly illustrated volume imparts a fuller understanding of Tress's career and the New York photographic scene of the 1960s and 1970s. This volume is published to accompany an exhibition on view at the J. Paul Getty Museum at the Getty Center from October 31, 2023, to February 18, 2024.
Carl Van Vechten and the Harlem Renaissance by
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The Critical Eye: fifteen pictures to understand photography by
The Critical Eye provides a comprehensive approach to the critical understanding of photography through an in-depth discussion of fifteen photographs and their contexts--historical, generic, biographical, and aesthetic. Lyle Rexer argues that by concentrating on just a few carefully chosen works it is possible to understand the history, development, and contemporary situation of photography. Looking at images by photographers such as Roland Fischer, Myoung Ho Lee, Zanele Muholi, and Ernest Cole, The Critical Eye addresses a wide range of issues involved in photography, from authorial self-consciousness to the role of the audience, and with every chapter it seeks to link the history of photography to current practice.
Elevate the Masses: Alexander Gardner, photography, and democracy in nineteenth-century America by
Alexander Gardner is best known for his innovative photographic history of the Civil War. What is less known is the extent to which he was involved in the international workers' rights movement. Tying Gardner's photographic storytelling to his transatlantic reform activities, this book expands our understanding of Gardner's career and the work of his studio in Washington, DC, by situating his photographic production within the era's discourse on social and political reform. Drawing on previously unknown primary sources and original close readings, Makeda Best reveals how Gardner's activism in Scotland and photography in the United States shared an ideological foundation. She reads his Photographic Sketch Book of the War as a politically motivated project, rooted in Gardner's Chartist and Owenite beliefs, and illuminates how its treatment of slavery is primarily concerned with the harm that the institution posed to the United States' reputation as a model democracy. Best shows how, in his portraiture, Gardner celebrated Northern labor communities and elevated white immigrant workers, despite the industrialization that degraded them. She concludes with a discussion of Gardner's promotion of an American national infrastructure in which photographers and photography played an integral role. Original and compelling, this reconsideration of Gardner's work expands the contribution of Civil War photography beyond the immediate narrative of the war to comprehend its relation to the vigorous international debates about democracy, industrialization, and the rights of citizens. Scholars working at the intersection of photography, cultural history, and social reform in the nineteenth century on both sides of the Atlantic will find Best's work invaluable to their own research.
Fortunes of War: Photography in Alter Space by
Eric Lesdema's photographic series Fortunes of War was awarded the UN Nikon World Prize in 1997. Originally a series of fifteen images, this extended edit includes eighty-three color photos, accompanied by a series of essays by leading academics in the field. The essays explore ideas raised by the prescient nature of the work, offering a highly original and engaging debate about its alternative approach to documentary photography, which views photography as an alternate space with the potential to project events rather than record them. In exploring an approach that cuts against the traditional concept central to documentary photography since its inception, the book thus raises important questions about twenty-first century interpretations and applications of photography and media. With thought-provoking research and a diverse array of essay contributions, Fortunes of War proposes new lines of interdisciplinary investigation, reflection, and inquiry.
Fritz Henle by
Praised as "the last classic freelance photographer" by photohistorian Helmut Gernsheim and as "a true 'Old Master' of the reflex camera" by critic Norman Rothschild, Fritz Henle (1909-1993) was one of the greatest photographers of the mid-twentieth century. Unlike most of his peers who specialized in a particular genre or style of photography, Henle ranged widely and successfully across many genres, including documentary, travel, fashion, commercial, portrait, celebrity, avant-garde, nude, industrial, landscape, and inspirational, to name only a few. He championed the square format photography of the Rolleiflex twin-lens reflex camera, becoming known later in life as "Mr. Rollei." A master craftsman renowned for exceptional technique and extraordinary composition, Henle was a prolific artist who published more than twenty books of his work, from This Is Japan (1937) to Casals (1975). Beyond his mastery of the craft, however, Henle was driven by a lifelong urge "to show people beauty." "I am obsessed," he said, "by showing them beauty." This volume is the catalogue of a major retrospective exhibition of the life and career of Fritz Henle staged by the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas at Austin. It covers the entire range of Henle's work, including significant items from the photographer's archive and family. The catalogue reproduces 127 of Henle's black-and-white and color photographs, which illustrate Henle's mastery of both media. Curator Roy Flukinger's text covers the full arc of Henle's career, from his early training in Germany to his prewar travels and photography in the Mediterranean, India, China, and Japan; his freelance work for LIFE magazine; his fashion editorials for Harper's Bazaar, Mademoiselle, and Town and Country; and his later photography and books of photographs of Mexico, Hawaii, Europe, and his final home, the U.S. Virgin Islands. An extensive bibliography of Henle's publications and exhibitions, collections that own his work, and critical commentary on Henle's photography completes this volume.
Hurricanes of Color: rock photography from the Beatles to Woodstock and beyond by
In 1964, fifteen-year-old Mike Frankel found himself among professional photojournalists covering a Beatles concert during the band's first tour in the United States. A few years later, he was a regular photographer at the Fillmore East, a storied venue in classic rock. And in 1969, he was onstage at Woodstock, documenting one of the most important events in American music history. Featuring Frankel's stunning photographs of nearly every major rock figure from the 1960s and '70s--including Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, the Rolling Stones, Janis Joplin, and the Grateful Dead--as well as many unpublished images of the Beatles, Hurricanes of Color chronicles an extraordinary moment. Frankel, who was for a time a personal photographer for Jefferson Airplane and Hot Tuna, developed an innovative style--one that layered images with multiple exposures to capture the spirit of the music of the era and the experience of listening to the bands live. A must-have for fans of classic rock, this is a spectacular and profound collection of photography that complements the music of the world's biggest performers.
Injustice in Focus: the civil rights photography of Cecil Williams by
The powerful life story and photography of an esteemed Black photojournalist from Orangeburg, South Carolina Cecil Williams is one of the few Southern Black photojournalists of the civil rights movement. Born and raised in Orangeburg, South Carolina, Williams worked at the center of emerging twentieth-century civil rights activism in the state, and his assignments often exposed him to White violence perpetrated by law officials and ordinary citizens. Williams's story is the story of the civil rights era. Williams and award-winning journalist Claudia Smith Brinson combine forces in Injustice in Focus: The Civil Rights Photography of Cecil Williams. Together they document civil rights activism in the 1940s through the 1960s in South Carolina. Williams was there, in South Carolina, to witness and document pivotal movements such as then-NAACP legal counsel Thurgood Marshall's arrival in Charleston to argue the landmark case Briggs v. Elliott and the aftermath of the infamous Orangeburg Massacre. Featuring eighty stunning photographs accompanied by Brinson's rich research, interviews, and prose, Injustice in Focus offers a firsthand account of South Carolina's fight for civil rights and describes Williams's life behind the camera as a documentarian of the civil rights movement.
The Jazz Image: seeing music through Herman Leonard's photography by
Typically, a photograph of a jazz musician has several formal prerequisites: black-and-white film, an urban setting in the mid-twentieth century, and a black man standing, playing, or sitting next to his instrument. That's the jazz archetype that photography created. Author K. Heather Pinson discovers how such a steadfast script developed visually and what this convention meant for the music. Album covers, magazines, books, documentaries, art photographs, posters, and various other visual extensions of popular culture formed the commonly held image of the jazz player. Through assimilation, there emerged a generalized composite of how mainstream jazz looked and sounded. Pinson evaluates representations of jazz musicians from 1945 to 1959, concentrating on the seminal role played by Herman Leonard (b. 1923). Leonard's photographic depictions of African American jazz musicians in New York not only created a visual template of a black musician of the 1950s, but also became the standard configuration of the music's neoclassical sound today. To discover how the image of the musician affected mainstream jazz, Pinson examines readings from critics, musicians, and educators, as well as interviews, musical scores, recordings, transcriptions, liner notes, and oral narratives.
Kracauer. Photographic Archive by
Siegfried Kracauer was a leading figure on the Weimar arts scene and one of the foremost representatives of the Frankfurt School of critical theory. Best known for a wealth of writings on sociology and film theory, his influence is felt in the work of many of the period's preeminent thinkers, including the critic Theodor W. Adorno, who once claimed he owed more to Kracauer than any other intellectual. Kracauer.Photographic Archive, a companion volume to The Past's Threshold: Essays on Photography, collects previously unpublished photographs by Siegfried and Elisabeth, "Lili," Kracauer. With its remarkably rich material, the book tells the story of the Kracauer's close working relationship, from their marriage in Germany to their escape to Paris and the war and postwar years in the United States. While neither Kracauer nor his wife trained in photography, their portraits, city views, and landscapes evince impressive aesthetic and technical skill, while simultaneously shedding light on their lives marked by exile and flight.
Minor White by
A beautifully illustrated tribute to one of the most influential photographers of the twentieth century. Controversial, misunderstood, and sometimes overlooked, Minor White (1908-1976) is one of the great photographers of the twentieth century, whose ideas exerted a powerful influence on a generation of photographers and still resonate today. His photographic career began in 1938 in Portland, Oregon, with assignments for the WPA (Works Progress Administration). After serving in World War II and studying art history at Columbia University, White's focus shifted toward the metaphorical. He began creating images charged with symbolism and a critical aspect called equivalency, referring to the invisible spiritual energy present in a photograph made visible to the viewer. This book brings together White's key biographical information--his evolution as a photographer, teacher of photography, and editor of Aperture, as well as particularly insightful quotations from his journals, which he kept for more than forty years. The result is an engaging narrative that weaves through the main threads of White's life, his growth as an artist, as well as his spiritual search and ongoing struggle with his own sexuality and self-doubt. He sought comfort in a variety of religious practices that influenced his continually metamorphosing artistic philosophy.
A Nimble Arc: James Van Der Zee and photography by
While James Van Der Zee is widely known and praised for his studio portraits from the Harlem Renaissance era, much of the diversity and expansive reach of his work has been overlooked. From the major role his studio played for decades photographing ordinary people and events in the Harlem community to the inclusion of his photographs in the landmark Harlem on My Mind exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1969, Van Der Zee was a foundational Black photographer whose work illustrates the shifting ways photography serves as a constitutive force within Black life. In A Nimble Arc, Emilie Boone considers Van Der Zee's photographic work over the course of the twentieth century, showing how it foregrounded aspects of Black daily life in the United States and in the larger African diaspora. Boone argues that Van Der Zee's work exists at the crossroads of art and the vernacular, challenging the distinction between canonical art photographs and the kind of output common to commercial photography studios. Boone's account recasts our understanding not only of this celebrated figure but of photography within the arc of quotidian Black life.
The Photobook World: Artists' books and forgotten social objects by
This volume sets out to challenge and ultimately broaden the category of the 'photobook'. It critiques the popular art-market definition of the photobook as simply a photographer's book, proposing instead to show how books and photos come together as collective cultural productions. Focusing on North American, British and French photobooks from 1920 to the present, the chapters revisit canonical works - by Claudia Andujar and George Love, Mohamed Bourouissa, Walker Evans, Susan Meiselas and Roland Penrose - while also delving into institutional, digital and unrealised projects, illegal practices, DIY communities and the poetic impulse. They throw new light on the way that gendered, racial or colonial assumptions are resisted. Taken as a whole, the volume provides a better understanding of how the meaning of a photobook is collectively produced both inside and outside the art market.
The Railroad Photography of Phil Hastings by
The Railroad Photography of Phil Hastings explores the life and influential work of Dr. Philip R. "Phil" Hastings (1925?1987). Along with his contemporaries, Hastings changed the way we look at the North American railroad. Influenced by the photojournalistic movement that developed during their childhoods, these visionaries expanded their work from traditional locomotive roster and action shots into a holistic view of the railroad environment. Collated by Tony Reevy, The Railroad Photography of Phil Hastings features 140 full-page, black-and-white photographs from throughout Hasting's career and includes an introduction that explores Hastings's life and work, including his relationships with noted author and editor David P. Morgan and photographer Jim Shaughnessy. The Railroad Photography of Phil Hastings represents a major contribution to the historical record of the life and work of this remarkable photographer, whose images shaped how we perceive and experience railroads throughout North America.
Stephanie Dinkins: on love and data by
Stephanie Dinkins is renowned for her critical investigations into artificial intelligence and machine learning systems as they intersect race, gender, and our future histories. By using her training in documentary practices as a photo-based artist, she creates inclusive platforms for dialogue and action toward building technological ecosystems and datasets that are equitable, accessible, and transparent. Her immersive installations, community-based workshops, and public talks seek audience participation and engagement in a way that pushes the boundaries of new media and socially engaged art practices in the 21st century. Stephanie Dinkins: On Love & Data brings together nationally renowned curators and theorists who draw from methodologies of art criticism, social practice, new media theory, and critical studies to offer an in-depth analysis of key installations in Dinkins's survey exhibition. The book also includes an important essay by Stephanie Dinkins on her concept of Afro-now-ism in which she expands on her theoretical framework and positionality as a Black new media artist in the 21st century. Dinkins's artistic research transcends the boundaries of visual art to challenge and expose the bias and inequities of caste, race, and gender, which are encoded within digital systems on which governance, healthcare, and security infrastructures in the United States are based.
Twilight by
Crewdson's most recent series of photographs, Twilight, are created as elaborately constructed film stills, catching the mysterious moment of time between before and after, revealing unknowable or unimaginable aspects of domestic reality. A cow lies on its back on the lawn between two houses while firemen secure the area and a man searches the sky. Could the cow have rained down from above? In another image stacks and stacks of inedible slices of bread - bearing an odd resemblance to the mysterious monoliths at Stonehenge - are watched over by a gathering of birds. Both entirely foreign and oddly familiar, these images are carefully orchestrated events that challenge our very notions of familiarity, undermining our sense of certainty. These eerie and evocative photographs pair beauty with horror, obsession with disgust, and the real with the surreal, suggesting narratives open to endless interpretations. The book includes an essay written by fiction writer Rick Moody. The book and exhibitions are comprised of the forty images from his Twilight series which was begun in 1998 - these exhibitions and this book chronicle the completion of the series and mark the first time it will be seen in its entirety.
Uta Barth by
This retrospective of the photographer Uta Barth traces her use of the camera to explore both how and what we see. Los Angeles-based contemporary artist Uta Barth (b. 1958) has spent her decades-long career exploring the complexities and limits of human and mechanical vision. At first, her photographs appear to be deceptively simple depictions of everyday objects--light filtering through a window, tree branches bereft of leaves, a sparsely appointed domestic interior--but these images, visually spare yet conceptually rigorous, emerge from her investigation of sight, perception, light, and time. In this richly illustrated monograph, curator Arpad Kovacs and contributors Lucy Gallun and Jeremy Gilbert-Rolfe chart Barth's career path and discuss her most significant series, revealing how she has rejected the primacy of a traditional photographic subject and instead called attention to what is on the periphery. The book includes previously unpublished bodies of work made early in her career that add much to our understanding of this important artist. Also included is Barth's most recent work, ...from dawn to dusk, an ambitious commission marking the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Getty Center.
