Mary Ellen Mark’s “Ward 81”

by | Jun 15, 2013 | Essays

Mary Ellen Mark’s Ward 81:  Art at the Expense of Social Documentary (Master’s Thesis, May 2013) In February of 1976, the photographer Mary Ellen Mark (American, b. 1940) and her friend, social scientist and writer Dr. Karen Folger Jacobs (American, b....

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...