Reading Task: Allan Sekula – ‘The Body and the Archive’

I initially found Sekula’s article, particularly his love for rarely-used terms (‘incunabulum’!), off-putting. Once into the flow, however, I found it fascinating. He makes a convincing case that the advent of photography gave an objective/scientific edge to images of the body, many of which served to undergird and even heighten existing prejudices, for good or

Reading task—Arbus, Sontag, Badger

I have never found Diane Arbus’ images to be particularly appealing. I understand her importance in the history of art photography and admire the consistency of her vision and approach. But I have never been able to get past the sense that her images are coldly manipulative and uncharitable. They remind me of the label

Exercise 1.1 background

Diane Arbus  Photographer (NYC, 1923–1971). Moved from fashion work with husband Allan Arbus to photographing a wide range of subjects that she befriended: LGBTQ, strippers, carnival performers, nudists, dwarves, children, mothers, couples, elderly people, and middle-class families. Guggenheim Foundation fellowship in 1963 for “American Rites, Manners and Customs”. Renewed 1966. Work included in 1967 MoMA exhibit New Documents along with Lee Friedlander,

Protected: The Clandestine Camera

There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.