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Contemporary Photography/ 1990!!s-Present

Monday, April 25th, 2011

Twenty years of photographic history is far too much to cover in a single lecture. The images included in theslideshow and the artists featured in the following Art 21 videos are intended as a general survey of thisperiod – it is by no means comprehensive.

What distinguishes photographic practice of the last two decades is the great variety of formal, aesthetic, andcritical methods employed. For this lecture I have attempted to identify three of the primary themes of theperiod. They are as follows:

The Influence of The Dusseldorf School of Photography

Performance, Fabrication, and Fictional Narrative in Photography



Performance, Fabrication, and Fictional Narrative in PhotographyThe Emergence of New Media and Digital Imaging Technologies

Martin Lister’s essay, Photography in the Age of Electronic Imaging, addresses critical discourse centered onthe emergence of digital photography.

Audio for this Lecture/ Contemporary Photo 1/ Contemporary Photo 2/ Contemporary Photo 3/Contemporary Photo 4/ Contemporary Photo 5/

Hiroshi Sugimoto on Art 21

Watch the full episode. See more ART:21.

Carrie Mae Weems on Art 21


Sally Mann on Art 21




Florian Maier-Aichen on Art 21


An-My Le on Art 21




Collier Schorr on Art 21


Yinka Shonibare on Art 21




Roni Horn on Art 21


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Photography and Postmodernism




The following essays outline many of the primary tenets of postmodern thought:Walter Benjamin, The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical ReproductionArthur Danto, Modern, Postmodern, and ContemporaryJean Baudrillard, Simulacra and SimulationsRoland Barthes, The Death of the Author

Audio for this Lecture/ Postmodernism 1/ Postmodernism 2/ Postmodernism 3

AfterWalkerEvans.com





Artists and Photography




Andy Grundberg’s essay, “The Crisis of the Real”

Audio for this Lecture/ Artist and Photo 1/ Artist and Photo 2/ Artist and Photo 3/ Artist and Photo 4




William Eggleston

Monday, March 28th, 2011



It is not easy for the photographer to compete with the clever originality of mindless, mechanized cameras,but the photographer can add intelligence. By means of photography one can in a minute reject asunsatisfactory ninety-nine configurations of facts and elect as right the hundredth. The choice is based ontradition and intuition – knowledge and ego – as it is in any art, but the ease of execution and the richness ofthe possibilities in photography both serve to put a premium on good intuition. The photographer’s problemis perhaps too complex to be dealt with rationally. This is why photographers prowl with such restlessuncertainty about their motif, ignoring many potentially interesting records while they look for somethingelse.-John Szarkowski

Audio for this Lecture/ Eggleston 1/ Eggleston 2/ Eggleston 3

John Szarkowski’s Introduction to the book William Eggleston’s Guide

Eudora Welty’s Introduction to the book The Democratic Forest

William Eggleston’s Afterword in The Democratic Forest



Watch more free documentaries




New Topographics

Wednesday, March 2nd, 2011



New Topographics refers to a 1975 exhibition at the George Eastman house curated by William Jenkins. Theeleven photographers included in the show were each concerned with the complex relationship betweennature and culture. The believed as the cultural geographer J.B. Jackson stated, Whether we like it or not, wecannot really see our country as a succession of views to be judged in aesthetic terms. We have to see it interms of social and human processes, an unending creation in which all of us are taking part. The Americanlandscape becomes the composite image of millions of individual destinies, all interlocked not only with theirneighbors but with us all.

In his book, What Can We Believe Where? Robert Adams writes: I began making pictures because Iwanted to record what supports hope: the untranslatable mystery and beauty of the world. Along the way,however, the camera also caught evidence against hope, and I eventually concluded that this too belonged inpictures if they were to be truthful and thus useful.

Audio for this lecture/ New Topographics 1/ New Topographics 2/ New Topographics 3/ New Topographics4

Leo Rubinfien discusses Robert Adams photographs of the American WestLewis Baltz‘s Notes on Recent Industrial Developments in Southern CaliforniaAn Interview with Stephen Shore

Robert Adams from ART 21




Stephen Shore: American Beauty



Bernd and Hilla Becher from Contacts: Volume 3



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New Documents

Monday, February 21st, 2011



In 1967 the Museum of Modern Art presented the exhibition “New Documents”. Organized by curator JohnSzarkowski, the show featured the work of Lee Friedlander, Garry Winogrand, and Diane Arbus. The workof these photographers – although still centered on “the real” – represented a major shift from traditionaldocumentary practice. As Szarkowski stated, “Their aim (was) not to reform life but to know it. Not topersuade but to understand”. The following essays, lectures, and interviews present varied perspectives on thephotographs of these three artists.

Audio for this lecture/ New Documents 1/ New Documents 2

Carol Armstrong discusses Lee Friedlander’s 2005 exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art

Carl Chiarenza on Garry Winogrand from IMAGE Magazine: Journal of Photography and Motion Pictures ofthe International Museum of Photography at George Eastman House

Judith Butler discusses the Diane Arbus exhibition, Revelations

A Discussion of the work of Diane Arbus on NPR’s All Things Considered



Garry Winogrand speaking at MIT in 1971

William Christenberry speaking on Lee Friedlander at the Hirshhorn Museum


Henri Cartier Bresson, Walker Evans, and Robert Frank

Friday, February 11th, 2011



Audio for this lecture/ Evans 1/ Evans 2/ Evans 3/ Frank 1/ Frank 2

The following readings explore Evans’ and Frank’s photography as well as the relationship between the twomen.Melancholy Realism: Walker Evans Resistance to Meaning by John Tagg part 1, part 2Disordering the Senses: Guggenheim Fellowship by Sarah Greenough part 1, part 2, part 3Robert Frank and Walker Evans by Jeff L. Rosenheim part 1, part 2

Sarah Greenough and Robert Frank podcast from National Gallery of ArtAn Evening with Robert Frank podcast from the Metropolitan Museum of ArtHenri Cartier Bresson The Modern Century podcast from the Museum of Modern Art

Charlie Rose, A Conversation with Henri Cartier Bresson



Charlie Rose, A Conversation About Walker Evans with Jeff Rosenheim

Charlie Rose, Henri Cartier Bresson, The Modern Century




The Authority of the Photograph

Friday, January 28th, 2011



In this lecture we will begin an examination of the “Authority” of the photograph – the notion that thephotographic image has a unique connection to the real and by extension truth. We will look at examples ofdocumentary photography from the 1930!s, 40!s, and 50!s and will discuss the problematic nature of thispractice as it relates to both truth and propaganda. The following readings should provide a good foundationfor this discussion.

Audio for this Lecture: Authority 1/ Authority 2/ Authority 3/ Authority 4

Mary Warner Marien on Documentary Photography from Photography: A Cultural History

Mary Warner Marien on The Family of Man from Photography: A Cultural History

Edward Steichen from the Introduction to The Family of Man

Roland Barthes on the Family of Man

A study prepared by the U.S. Embassy of visitors’ reactions to The Family of Man Exhibition in Germany

Mary Warner Marien on Photography and the Atomic Bomb from Photography: A Cultural History

Additional links for this lecture:Shomei Tomatsu from the exhibition Skin of the Nation at SFMOMAEugene Smith Photography Made Difficult on class YouTube playlist




The Ontology of Photography

Friday, January 21st, 2011



In our first lecture we are concerned with exploring the ontology of photography. By this I mean, what is itthat makes photography unique? What is its essential nature? The readings by both Barthes and Szarkowskiaddress this question.

Audio for this lecture/ Ontology 1 / Ontology 2 / Ontology 3 / Ontology 4 / Ontology 5 / Ontology 6

Assignment

Please select three images (not discussed in class) from the slide show above concerning the ontology ofphotography. For each image please describe and try to interpret the photograph using the readingassignments and the course lecture as a frame of reference.

The assignment must be submitted to the Dropbox on D2L before the beginning of class on Tuesday.

The Genius of Photography is a BBC produced series examining the history of photography. As a preface toour semester long post-war discussion of the medium these videos should provide a context for understandingcontemporary photography and its foundations.



To see the rest of the videos in this series please visit the Genius of Photography page on YouTube.


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