This book challenges the status quo of the materiality of exhibited photographs, by considering examples from the early to mid-twentieth century, when photography’s place in the museum was not only continually questioned but also continually redefined.
By taking this historical approach, Laurie Taylor demonstrates the ways in which materiality (as opposed to image) was used to privilege the exhibited photograph as either an artwork or as non-art information. Consequently, the exhibited photograph is revealed, like its vernacular cousins, to be a social object whose material form, far from being supplemental, is instead integral and essential to the generation of meaning.
The book will be of interest to scholars working in art history, history of photography, theory of photography, curatorial studies and museum studies.
Author(s): Laurie Taylor
Series: Routledge History of Photography
Publisher: Routledge
Year: 2020
Language: English
Pages: 140
City: London
Cover
Half Title
Series Page
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication Page
Contents
List of Illustrations
Acknowledgements
Introduction: Materiality Matters
1 This ‘Thing’ Called Photography
The Image as Object: Suitable for Human Consumption
Early Photography: Metal Versus Paper, Commerce Versus Artistry
Closing the Gap: The Standardisation of Materials
2 On the Surface
The ‘Fuzzy School’: Texture and Matte
The ‘Sharp and Shiny Contingent’: Smooth and Glossy
The Transparent Surface
3 The Size of It
Photographic Size: A Contemporary Issue?
Enlargement: A Material and Technological Evolution
One Work, One Maker: The Portfolio-Sized Print
‘Disposable Monumentality’: The Large-Format Print
4 Mounting Concerns
Borders, Reinforcements and Accessibility
The Visible Mount
The Hidden Mount
Conclusion: Not Just Window Dressing . . .
Action, Causation, Effect
Putting It All Into Practice: The Wider Implications
Index
