Photography Past/Forward: Aperture At 50
by R.H. Cravens, Madonna, Arthur Danto
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Book Summary Information
Author: Arthur Danto, Madonna, R.H. CravensPhotographer: Dorothea Lange
Photographer: Mary Ellen Mark
Photographer: Paul Strand
Photographer: William Henry Fox Talbot
Photographer: Minor White
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2005-06-15
ISBN: 1931788375
Number of pages: 240
Publisher: Aperture
Book Reviews of Photography Past/Forward: Aperture At 50
Book Review: Essay and gallery commemorating 50 years of Aperture
Summary: 5 Stars
Aperture published this book in 2002 to accompany the exhibition that it put together to celebrate its first fifty years as an organization and publisher, 1952-2001.
The book consists of two parts that are only loosely tied together: an extended essay by R. H. Cravens entitled Visions & Voices: A celebration of genius in Photography (36 pages in all), and a large gallery of photographs intermixed with quotes from Aperture writers ranging in length from single lines to whole pages (194 pages in all). Most of the items are marked with the volume of Aperture where they appear. The rest constitute "additional material" assembled for the event. Though not noted as such, some have also appeared in other Aperture publications, but probably not all. I assume that the gallery - the photographs if not also the quotes - corresponds fairly closely with the exhibition.
If you crack the book open and start leafing through it you may not see the clear two part structure. This is for two reasons. First, the essay has illustrations of its own - mostly smallish pictures of pages or double pages from various issues of Aperture but also some photos of the people involved including the founders and the editors. And second, the two parts are not presented as single pieces but are rather interleaved: four chapters of the essay each followed by about a quarter of the gallery photographs and quotes. It's actually easy to tell the two kinds of content apart once you notice that the pages of the essay have Visions & Voices next to the page numbers whereas the pages of the gallery do not.
The organization of the essay is basically chronological and traces the history of Aperture from its founding to today (or rather to seven years ago). Cravens bases it on interviews with the insiders and offers an insider's view. He talks a lot about the beliefs and goals of the principals as well as their concrete accomplishments and frustrations (especially in the area of money). He portrays the people with charity and circumspection, and even though he notes a surprisingly large number of unfortunate developments including divorce, alcoholism, disability and death, he barely hints at the personal animosities and conflicts that must have been part and parcel of an enterprise such as Aperture.
He focuses on the chief editors, first Minor White and later Michael Hoffman along with for a few crucial years Carole Kismaric. He mentions many photographers in passing but says little about most of them. Exceptions are Paul Strand, who receives the most treatment of all (more than Minor White in his capacity as photographer as opposed to editor), and Frederick Sommer, who figures in one of the very few controversies that is noted in the essay, the publication of some photographs of his in the pages of Aperture that evoked angry responses from a segment of the journal's readership.
The sequencing of the gallery is loosely chronological but relates more to the artistic trends that could be tracked in the pages of Aperture over the years. The progression is, very roughly, from straight to experimental photography, seen against the background of the eternal tensions between aestheticism and social conscience, realism and artifice, safety and shock. Those familiar with the individual photographers will probably recognize the works selected for the collection, but those whose knowledge of 20th century photography is limited (as mine is), will find much that is new. Photographs are identified by photographer, title, date (but not size or original print type), and, where applicable, appearance in Aperture, but there is no commentary other than the interleaved quotes. Those who want to read need to read the language of the photographs themselves.
I would give the essay by itself four stars and the gallery by itself five stars. I really like the book as a whole and give it five stars overall.
BTW the account of the Sommer controversy in the essay appears on p. 15. The photograph at the middle of it, Untitled (amputated foot), 1939, is included in the gallery on p. 225.
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