PrintAugust 4, 2007
Art Or Propaganda? Postwar American Photography
Not since Socialist/Heroic Realism in the 1930's has a mode of art been so rigidly constrained to a political orthodoxy, as photography has been for the last 40 years. Art is, I'm told, is supposed to invoke some kind of thoughts or feelings in the viewer. Since I'm sadly bereft of an artistic sensibility (as my brother frequently points out) I'm quite unable to judge the artistic merit of a painting or photograph. I might look at, say, a photograph of a certain pepper and think: "My, what an unusual pepper; I've not seen one like that at the Stop'n'Save." So I haven't in the past concerned myself much with artistic matters.However, last winter I bought myself a big black camera. In an effort to learn how to use it properly I came across a group of photographers that attained considerable prominence in the years after World War II. This group includes Robert Frank, Lee Friedlander, Garry Winogrand and in a way culminating with Diane Arbus....(Read Full Article)
