Farm Security Administration’s documentary photographs

by | May 4, 2013 | Essays

ALL THINGS TO ALL PEOPLE: The aestheticization and commodification of the Farm Security Administration’s documentary photographs  (May 2013) Beauty is one of the greatest dangers to documentary.[1] The photographs produced for the Farm Security Administration...

Illustrated Conflict Reportage since the advent of Photography

by | May 4, 2013 | Essays

The Theater of War: A brief overview of illustrated conflict reportage since the advent of photography  (April 2013) Mom, I wouldn’t wish war on my worst enemy. —John, U.S. Marine, twice deployed to Iraq [1] The invention of the printing press in 1448 revolutionized...

Richard Avedon

by | May 4, 2013 | Essays

IT’S PERSONAL: Richard Avedon’s photographs from the East Louisiana State Mental Hospital  (March 2013) Asylums and mental health institutions are a relatively modern construct in Western society.  Prior to the 19th century, the mentally ill were generally...

Photography’s role in 19th century Psychiatry

by | May 4, 2013 | Essays

From Fool to Mad Femme: Photography’s role in validating gender-biased mental illnesses in the 19th century  (Spring 2012) Photography played a significant role in defining the visual character of madness in the 19th century. With close ties to phrenology and...

Karl Blössfeldt

by | May 4, 2013 | Essays

Karl Blössfeldt: Indisputably Modern  (Fall 2011) The German photographer and teacher Karl Blossfeldt (1865 – 1932) is remembered in art history as a solitary figure who intuited the modernist aesthetic—his photographs of plants have all the hallmarks of the ‘new...