Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

A renowned critic and historian offers a radically new account of the meaning of ambitious art photography since the Bechers



From the late 1970s onward, serious art photography began to be made at large scale and for the wall. Michael Fried argues that this immediately compelled photographers to grapple with issues centering on the relationship between the photograph and the viewer standing before it that until then had been the province only of painting. Fried further demonstrates that certain philosophically deep problems--associated with notions of theatricality, literalness, and objecthood, and touching on the role of original intention in artistic production, first discussed in his contro­versial essay "Art and Objecthood" (1967)--have come to the fore once again in recent photography. This means that the photo­graphic "ghetto" no longer exists; instead photography is at the cutting edge of contemporary art as never before.

Among the photographers and video-makers whose work receives serious attention in this powerfully argued book are Jeff Wall, Hiroshi Sugimoto, Cindy Sherman, Thomas Struth, Thomas Ruff, Andreas Gursky, Luc Delahaye, Rineke Dijkstra, Patrick Faigenbaum, Roland Fischer, Thomas Demand, Candida Höfer, Beat Streuli, Philip-Lorca diCorcia, Douglas Gordon and Philippe Parreno, James Welling, and Bernd and Hilla Becher. Future discussions of the new art photography will have no choice but to take a stand for or against Fried's conclusions.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

CHOICE Review

Fried (Johns Hopkins Univ.) most notably wrote about the development of modernism in his controversial 1967 essay "Art and Objecthood" (see also Art and Objecthood, CH, Sep'98, 36-0090). In this new work he builds on his previous theories to contemplate photography as the primary force in contemporary art. Fried argues that as photography expands in ever-increasing scale, it alters the relationship between viewer and artwork by its theatricality, literalness, intentionality, and objecthood that only painting successfully accomplished until now. This is a huge book in its weighty theoretical approach to the subject of photography, and in its visual richness and ambition, with over 400 illustrations by such notable photographic artists as Hiroshi Sugimoto, Cindy Sherman, Thomas Ruff, Thomas Struth, Andreas Gursky, Philip-Lorca diCorcia, and Bernd and Hilla Becher, among others. Particular attention is lavished on Jeff Wall, both as artist and scholar, who clearly was a significant influence on Fried. Ten chapters, each focusing on a particular artist or group of artists, culminate in a conclusion chapter that nicely sums up Fried's point of view. Whether one agrees or disagrees with Fried's premise, this book is a must read. Summing Up: Essential. Lower-level undergraduates and above; general readers. J. Natal Columbia College Chicago