Product Description

The essays all focus on a consideration of specific photographs - from a humble combination of baby photos and bronzed booties to a masterwork by Alfred Stieglitz. Although Batchen views each photograph within the context of broader social and political forces, he also engages its own distinctive formal attributes. In short, he sees photography as something that is simultaneously material and cultural. In an effort to evoke the lived experience of history, he frequently relies on sheer description as the mode of analysis, insisting that we look right at - rather than beyond - the photograph being discussed. A constant theme throughout the book is the question of photography's past, present, and future identity.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1800508 in Books
• Published on: 2001-03-12
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 248 pages

Review
"Unruly, energetic, unmastered. Also erudite, engaged and rigorous. Batchen's essays have arrived at exactly the right moment, when we need their skepticism and imagination to clarify the blurry visual thinking of our contemporary cultures." - Ross Gibson, Creative Director, Australian Centre for the Moving Image"

About the Author
Geoffrey Batchen is Associate Professor, Department of Art and Art History, the University of New Mexico.