Studies in Theory and History of Photography

With the Jungian term of the complex the present volume inquires about the making of the artistic persona in twentieth-century photography. The articles examine photographic (self-)portraits, the dynamics between self-statements of artists and photographers, the interrelations of photography, of painting and of performance art and investigate their origins in the history of ideas. The volume traces a portrait of photography as a metascience; as preparatory work, a source of inspiration and an alternate medium in which artists could explore different subjects. With essays by Ulrike Blumenthal, Till Cremer, Victoria Fleury, Jadwiga Kamola, Weronika Kobylińska-Bunsch, Nadja Köffler, Constance Krüger, Wilma Scheschonk, Gerd Zillner.

The Colors of Photography aims to provide a deeper understanding of what color is in the field of photography. Until today, color photography has marked the "here and now," while black and white photographs have been linked to our image of history and have formed our collective memory. However, such general dichotomies start to crumble when considering the aesthetic, cultural, and political complexity of color in photography.

With essays by Charlotte Cotton, Bettina Gockel, Tanya Sheehan, Blake Stimson, Kim Timby, Kelley Wilder, Deborah Willis. Photographic contributions by Hans Danuser and Raymond Meier.

"It has been called a revolution. It is." So beschreibt die Zeitschrift Photography 1907 die Neuerung des Autochroms. Als erstes Farbfotografieverfahren, das einfach zu verwenden war und hervorragende Farbergebnisse erzielte, wurde das Autochrom als Zäsur in der Entwicklung der Fotografie gefeiert. KunstfotografInnen, StudiofotografInnen ebenso wie Wissenschaftler widmeten sich der Aufzeichnung der Welt in Farbe bis in die Weiten der Antarktis. Die Publikation bietet die erste umfassende Analyse dieser Medienrevolution am Beispiel Großbritanniens. Sie eröffnet einen neuen Blick: nicht nur auf die Anfänge einer Debatte um den Wert der Farbe in der Fotografie, die bis in die 1980er Jahre geführt wurde, sondern auch auf den Ursprung einer Bildpraxis, die bis ins digitale Zeitalter fortlebt.

The historiography of early photography has scarcely examined Islamic countries in the Near and Middle East, although the new technique was adopted very quickly there by the 1840s. Which regional, local, and global aspects can be made evident? What role did autochthonous image and art traditions have, and which specific functions did photography meet since its introduction? This collective volume deals with examples from Iran, the Ottoman Empire, and the Arab lands and with the question of local specifics, or an „indigenous lens." The contributions broach the issues of regional histories of photography, local photographers, specific themes and practices, and historical collections in these countries. They offer, for the first time in book form, a cross-section through a developing field of the history of photography.

Scientific studies often use photographic images as documents, arguments, and proofs. This anthology focuses on a historical presentation and critical examination of proofs, normative standards, and acts of identification by means of photography. The essays also analyze textual perspectives on photography, art, and the history of science as well as artistic works on this theme.

William Henry Fox Talbot (1800–1877) is best known as an early inventor of photographic processes. For the first time, based on extensive new sources, this study examines Talbot's inventions in the context of his entire oeuvre. This makes possible new interpretations of his photographs, which the author views primarily as an instrument for his diverse scientific interests, and thus as part of a broader epistemic conception.

Scholars are increasingly investigating photography’s broad cultural role, expanding our understanding of the diversity of photographic practices. Kim Timby contributes to this new history of photography by examining the multifaceted story of images that animate with a flick of the wrist or appear vividly three-dimensional without the use of special devices—both made possible by the lenticular process.

Using French case studies, this volume broadly weaves 3D and animated lenticular imagery into scientific and popular culture, from early cinema and color reproduction to the birth of modern advertising and the market for studio portraits, postcards, and religious imagery. The motivations behind the invention and reinvention of this pervasive form of imagery, from the turn of the twentieth century through the end of the pre-digital era, shed new light on our relationship to photographic realism and on the forceful interplay in photography between technological innovation and the desire to be entertained.

3D and Animated Lenticular Photography: Between Utopia and Entertainment is a profusely illustrated and engaging interdisciplinary study of a wide-ranging body of images that have fascinated viewers for generations.

Based on the work of the Swiss photographer Hans Danuser and on his conversations with Peter Zumthor, Reto Hänny, Bettina Gockel, and Philip Ursprung, this book analyzes a previously undocumented segment of Swiss photographic history in the context of the international upheaval of the 1970s and 80s. Includes previously unpublished photographs by Hans Danuser from the 1980s.

This publication investigates for the first time the official, private, and commercial role of photomontage in Italian fascist propaganda. By linking political iconography to iconology as a historical hermeneutic method and to the aesthetics of reception, the author shows the meaning of numerous montages, generating insights about the themes and mechanisms of fascist propaganda.

Is there a specific history of the visual medium of photography in the United States that would justify speaking of American photography? What made classic figures of international photography such as Alfred Stieglitz, Paul Strand, Ansel Adams, and Frederick Sommer—or even Robert Frank—American photographers? This volume presents examples of pioneering texts on the history of photography in America and more recent research on social, political, and artistic aspects of the medium. The spectrum of topics ranges from the aesthetic and social function of the daguerreotype to the role of photography in shaping the identity of the African American population of North America. With essays by Kaspar M. Fleischmann, Martin Gasser, Anne Hammond, Robin Kelsey, Anne McCauley, Shelley Rice, Shawn Michelle Smith, Maren Stange, Alan Trachtenberg, Kelley Wilder, and Deborah Willis.

In Iran, the introduction of photography as developed in Europe rapidly led to the emergence of an independent photographic culture. Jonas Wenger uses the visual motif ‘labour’ to investigate the extent to which local photographers updated existing Orientalist stereotypes when they appropriated the technology. He also examines what rhetorical functions specific visual conventions have had for Iran’s internal discourse on internal expansionism, modernity, nationalism and independence. Over a period of seventy years, he reveals how European imperialist claims have intersected with Iranian efforts at nationalization in photographic representations of labour, and shows that European images of Iran overlap with inner Iranian tensions between centre and periphery.