Museums: October 2005 Archives

One could make a case for splitting the history of photography into two broad swaths divided by the early 20th century work of the French photographer Atget. This past summer I read through "Classic Essays on Photography" and from the writings of early and mid- 20th C. photographers like Abbott (who was Atget's biggest promoter) it's clear that the impact of Atget's eye on all that followed was tremendous. Before Atget, photography was imitative of Art - its stylings and subjects. Following Atget, photography's artistic values and sensibilities came from the mechanics of medium itself - as is the case with painting, sculpture, etc.

I say "Atget's eye" because it wasn't necessarily his thinking that made the difference, aside from what thinking was expressed on his glass plate negatives. Though he did have relationships with art-oriented photographers like Abbott, he considered himself a commercial photographer, constantly rearranging his work into new portfolios depending on the whims and interests of previous or prospective clients. There was no grandiose artistic philosophy to hang his work upon, though his spiritual progeny developed many of his themes and working styles into their own explicit working philosophies.

The Philadelphia Museum of Art current show of Atget's work is a comprehensive catalog and displays some outstanding individual images. What it fails to do is drive home why Atget matters, suffering from a lack of visual comparison to what came before and what came after. Looking at much of Atget's work hanging on a museum wall today leaves many scratching their heads. The inclusion of some framing pictures from the ers preseding and succeeding Atget's work would have drawn a starker view of his visual innovation. Yes, there is a single Abbott photo shown for comparison, as well as an interesting comparison of Atget and Abbot prints from Atget's negatives, but these are there mostly to highlight the show's view that Atget's use of obsolete processes and tools (he used an old-fashioned box camera and made albumin contact positives) resulted in superior prints to what Abbott was able to achieve - a subjective position that I disagree with.

Through Nov. 27 at Philadelphia Museum of Art
(As well as Mavericks of Color, noted previously.)

Old Factories #8 by Edward Burtynsky

This week marks the start of Edward Burtynsky's mid-career retrospective at the Brooklyn Museum. My wife took me to Ottawa in 2003 to see the opening at Canada's National Gallery for my birthday, but I understand the show has been expanded to include more recent work as well, so I'm sure I'll take a second gander. Burtynsky will be giving a lecture on Saturday, as well, to inaugurate the show. The talk starts at 3pm and is sure to be completely crowded as over the last few years he's really come into his own as one of the world's preeminent phtographers.

Also opening this week, to coincide with the retrospective, is a show of new work from China at Charles Cowles Gallery. The show looks to be quite extensive, building on Burtynsky's last show in New York focusing on the Three Gorges Dam project in China. This time, the work has a wider scope, capturing the explosive growth China has experienced over the last few years.

Slate has a profile of Burtynsky. (via Conscientous)

Manufactured Landscapes
Through Jan. 15th at the Brooklyn Museum
Lecture Oct. 8th at 3pm

Through Nov. 15th at Charles Cowles Gallery
537 W 24th St
(212) 741-8999