History of Photography 1945-Present PDF

10/12/11 Context » Course Lectures
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Notes on Photography, Visual Culture, and Contemporary Art Theory
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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 the
slideshow and the artists featured in the following Art 21 videos are intended as a general survey of this
period – it is by no means comprehensive.
What distinguishes photographic practice of the last two decades is the great variety of formal, aesthetic, and
critical methods employed. For this lecture I have attempted to identify three of the primary themes of the
period. They are as follows:
The Influence of The Dusseldorf School of Photography

Performance, Fabrication, and Fictional Narrative in Photography
toddstewartphotography.net/teaching/category/4713/course-lectures/ 1/36
Performance, Fabrication, and Fictional Narrative in Photography

The Emergence of New Media and Digital Imaging Technologies
Martin Lister’s essay, Photography in the Age of Electronic Imaging, addresses critical discourse centered on
the 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
Posted in AHI 4713, Course Lectures | Comments Off
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 Reproduction
Arthur Danto, Modern, Postmodern, and Contemporary
Jean Baudrillard, Simulacra and Simulations
Roland 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 as
unsatisfactory ninety-nine configurations of facts and elect as right the hundredth. The choice is based on
tradition and intuition – knowledge and ego – as it is in any art, but the ease of execution and the richness of
the possibilities in photography both serve to put a premium on good intuition. The photographer’s problem
is perhaps too complex to be dealt with rationally. This is why photographers prowl with such restless
uncertainty about their motif, ignoring many potentially interesting records while they look for something
else.
-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. The
eleven photographers included in the show were each concerned with the complex relationship between
nature and culture. The believed as the cultural geographer J.B. Jackson stated, Whether we like it or not, we
cannot really see our country as a succession of views to be judged in aesthetic terms. We have to see it in
terms of social and human processes, an unending creation in which all of us are taking part. The American
landscape becomes the composite image of millions of individual destinies, all interlocked not only with their
neighbors but with us all.
In his book, What Can We Believe Where? Robert Adams writes: I began making pictures because I
wanted 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 in
pictures if they were to be truthful and thus useful.
Audio for this lecture/ New Topographics 1/ New Topographics 2/ New Topographics 3/ New Topographics
4
Leo Rubinfien discusses Robert Adams photographs of the American West

Lewis Baltz‘s Notes on Recent Industrial Developments in Southern California
An 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 John
Szarkowski, the show featured the work of Lee Friedlander, Garry Winogrand, and Diane Arbus. The work
of these photographers – although still centered on “the real” – represented a major shift from traditional
documentary practice. As Szarkowski stated, “Their aim (was) not to reform life but to know it. Not to
persuade but to understand”. The following essays, lectures, and interviews present varied perspectives on the
photographs 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 of
the 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 two
men.
Melancholy Realism: Walker Evans Resistance to Meaning by John Tagg part 1, part 2
Disordering the Senses: Guggenheim Fellowship by Sarah Greenough part 1, part 2, part 3
Robert Frank and Walker Evans by Jeff L. Rosenheim part 1, part 2
Sarah Greenough and Robert Frank podcast from National Gallery of Art
An Evening with Robert Frank podcast from the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Henri 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 the
photographic image has a unique connection to the real and by extension truth. We will look at examples of
documentary photography from the 1930!s, 40!s, and 50!s and will discuss the problematic nature of this
practice as it relates to both truth and propaganda. The following readings should provide a good foundation
for 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 SFMOMA
Eugene 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 it
that makes photography unique? What is its essential nature? The readings by both Barthes and Szarkowski
address 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 of
photography. For each image please describe and try to interpret the photograph using the reading
assignments 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 to
our semester long post-war discussion of the medium these videos should provide a context for understanding
contemporary photography and its foundations.
To see the rest of the videos in this series please visit the Genius of Photography page on YouTube.
Context
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10/12/11 Context » Course Lectures

Archive for the ‘Course Lectures’ Category

The Influence of The Dusseldorf School of Photography

Performance, Fabrication, and Fictional Narrative in Photography

Hiroshi Sugimoto on Art 21

Watch the full episode. See more ART:21.

Carrie Mae Weems on Art 21

Watch the full episode. See more ART:21.

Sally Mann on Art 21

Watch the full episode. See more ART:21.

Florian Maier-Aichen on Art 21

Watch the full episode. See more ART:21.

Watch the full episode. See more ART:21.

Collier Schorr on Art 21

Watch the full episode. See more ART:21.

Yinka Shonibare on Art 21

Watch the full episode. See more ART:21.

Roni Horn on Art 21

Watch the full episode. See more ART:21.

Posted in AHI 4713, Course Lectures | Comments Off

Photography and Postmodernism

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

Watch the full episode. See more ART:21.

Watch the full episode. See more ART:21.

Watch the full episode. See more ART:21.

Posted in AHI 4713, Course Lectures | Comments Off

Artists and Photography

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

Watch the full episode. See more ART:21.

Watch the full episode. See more ART:21.

Posted in AHI 4713, Course Lectures | Comments Off

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

Posted in AHI 4713, Course Lectures | Comments Off

Leo Rubinfien discusses Robert Adams photographs of the American West

Robert Adams from ART 21

Watch the full episode. See more ART:21.

Watch the full episode. See more ART:21.

Watch the full episode. See more ART:21.

Stephen Shore: American Beauty

Bernd and Hilla Becher from Contacts: Volume 3

Posted in AHI 4713, Course Lectures | No Comments »

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

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

Posted in AHI 4713, Course Lectures | No Comments »

Henri Cartier Bresson, Walker Evans, and Robert Frank

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

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

Posted in AHI 4713, Course Lectures | No Comments »

The Authority of the Photograph

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

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

Edward Steichen from the Introduction to The Family of Man

Roland Barthes on the Family of Man

Additional links for this lecture: