Wednesday, April 7th, 2010
Photograph by Walker Evans. Truck and Sign. New York. 1930.
Walker Evans and Robert Frank: An Essay on Influence
By Tod Papageorge
THE PURPOSE OF THIS MONOGRAPH IS TO
describe the influence of Walker Evans’
American Photographs (1938) on The Americans
(1959) of Robert Frank. To do this, the
photographs in the two books have been edited
and yoked together in a series of comparisons.
What follows, then, is an exercise in speculation,
one born of love and respect. It is offered as a
working idea rather than an assured truth, a
reasoned pretext for returning to the two great
books it examines. (more…)
Fine Art, Photography |
Thursday, April 1st, 2010
Photograph by Ernest J. Bellocq. New Orleans.
Is photography over? I don’t think so. It’s a human creation that has turned out to be quite useful, like plumbing or language. Like all useful things, it keeps changing. And like all things touched by digital technology, it is changing a lot right now. But no matter how many new gizmos and apps come along, I doubt that photographs are more likely than pipes and words to become obsolete.
But we’re really talking about photography in the art world, aren’t we? One of the progressive myths of today’s art world is that what really matters is some core quality, idea, or experience of art — independent of the materials and techniques that brought a particular work into being. I call this outlook progressive because it has challenged hierarchies and eroded assumptions that tended to stifle rather than inspire curiosity and creativity. (more…)
Fine Art, Photography |
