I loved this piece, I enjoy other artists perspectives on their medium, I am not a photographer, I'm a poet, and read this article through a spiritual lens. "The past must die for the future to be born" hit me between the eyes = life is ephemeral, don't resist, let go. "The road not taken" = there is no growth without change. "Physics is the law.." = everything is energy and energy never lies. "In a world of abundance, curation is key" = be true to yourself and live with integrity. Finally "The camera is an instrument to see without the camera" = life is all about perspective and being able to adjust our own as we seek new truths and self development. Wonderful!
Great piece, Neil. Szarkowski sure elicits strong reactions. It’s the unsettling of assumptions which you identify in his work where I find the value. Now I have to find my copy again.
Is Berger on your list? A very different set of insights from a European perspective.
I love the comment "...the best images in the book do what all art should do and appeal to the unconscious: the shiver down the spine that tells us what we like without knowing why." One can find this in all forms of art and speaks to how we humans often communicate, and that's through the unconscious.
The photographs that illustrate your piece are without exception, ugly. Why can’t photographers just admit to being voyeurs and get on with their obsession. Intellectualising, just adds to the confusion.
Without plastering a reply with observations like scale; photographs do not scale up or down unlike a painting, (although Wind thought that painters substitute size for quality) beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder however uninformed.
He is a fascinating figure. I think it is notable that most of the masters he features went through many phases of technical expertise to find their aesthetic eg Stieglitz Weston etc
Not very keen about his figure, just knowing he had a great influence in the development of American photography, and its extension to the rest of the world
I loved this piece, I enjoy other artists perspectives on their medium, I am not a photographer, I'm a poet, and read this article through a spiritual lens. "The past must die for the future to be born" hit me between the eyes = life is ephemeral, don't resist, let go. "The road not taken" = there is no growth without change. "Physics is the law.." = everything is energy and energy never lies. "In a world of abundance, curation is key" = be true to yourself and live with integrity. Finally "The camera is an instrument to see without the camera" = life is all about perspective and being able to adjust our own as we seek new truths and self development. Wonderful!
Thank you. Totally. You get me!
Great distillation. I really enjoyed this.
Thanks! Not sure if you read it, but quite an opaque book
I haven’t and am very pleased with your take. 😇😊
Great piece, Neil. Szarkowski sure elicits strong reactions. It’s the unsettling of assumptions which you identify in his work where I find the value. Now I have to find my copy again.
Is Berger on your list? A very different set of insights from a European perspective.
Thanks Marcello! I recently read Another Way of Telling by Berger and Mohr. I didn't get on with Understanding Photography but may give it another go.
I love the comment "...the best images in the book do what all art should do and appeal to the unconscious: the shiver down the spine that tells us what we like without knowing why." One can find this in all forms of art and speaks to how we humans often communicate, and that's through the unconscious.
Nice piece :)
Thanks Talya! There was a good series about spine-tingling art the other day, but what was sad was how few people ever seem to experience it: https://news.artnet.com/multimedia/what-makes-spine-tingling-art-aesthetic-chills-explained-2595020
As mentioned in the Artnet piece, I think aesthetic chills are somewhat common with music. Have you experienced it much with photography or paintings?
Yes, more common with music but Rembrandt and Botticelli and strangely Chris Killip spring to mind. And Nabokov in literature
For me it's Vermeer.
The photographs that illustrate your piece are without exception, ugly. Why can’t photographers just admit to being voyeurs and get on with their obsession. Intellectualising, just adds to the confusion.
Haha. Beauty, alas, is not enough. I do find them so though. Where do you go for beauty?
Without plastering a reply with observations like scale; photographs do not scale up or down unlike a painting, (although Wind thought that painters substitute size for quality) beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder however uninformed.
Need to listen to those Edgar Wind Reith lectures, thanks for the reminder!
This is very good for a keen photographer who wants to pursue a career into this type....
I remember reading Szarkowski while I was studying photography in an masters program at the turn of the century. An important voice in my head.
Looks like a fascinating book!
The only difference is that masters will never know that they don’t know. Beginners will.
I have the French edition, don’t ask me why. Hard cover no photo in it.
Another Szarkowsky book is Looking at photographs
He is a fascinating figure. I think it is notable that most of the masters he features went through many phases of technical expertise to find their aesthetic eg Stieglitz Weston etc
Not very keen about his figure, just knowing he had a great influence in the development of American photography, and its extension to the rest of the world
Ha, that’s all I know about him also, maybe would be interesting to learn more the life https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2010/jul/20/john-szarkowski-photography-moma
Thanks Nail, I’ll have a look
Very interesting. I haven’t read the book but your post suggests to me that it’s required reading.
It’s fascinating to imagine yourself in a time before photography was considered a fine art. I think that is the main achievement of Szarkowski.
Oh dear, just when I thought I was getting the hang of it… This is great Neil. The assassin shot is unnerving.
Thank you Simon! It is great, the assassin one, the whole series of Alexander Gardner is really good and want to write more on him.