Photography in Boston: 1955-1985 [Hardcover]

Rachel Rosenfield Lafo (Editor), Gillian Nagler (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 21, 2000

Boston played a crucial role in the development of American photography, including criticism, collecting, and curating, in the second half of the twentieth century. This book accompanies a landmark exhibition at the DeCordova Museum that includes such important American artists as Berenice Abbott, Harry Callahan, Paul Caponigro, Marie Cosindas, Harold Edgerton, Nan Goldin, Jerome Liebling, Nicholas Nixon, Barbara Norfleet, Olivia Parker, Rosamond Purcell, Aaron Siskind, and Minor White.The period from 1955 to 1985 reflects photography's acceptance as an art form, the influence of modernism, and the coalescence of a unique constellation of educational institutions, museums, and technological development in the Boston area that directly influenced artistic options for photography. Minor White's arrival at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1965 to run the Center for Creative Photography and the Polaroid Corporation's innovative support of photographic art suggest how developments built upon one another to create a regional critical mass in photography.The book contains twenty-five color plates, sixty duotones, and essays by A. D. Coleman, Rachel Rosenfield Lafo, Arno Rafael Minkkinen, and Kim Sichel.Copublished with the DeCordova Museum and Sculpture Park.Published in conjunction with the exhibition Photography in Boston: 1955-1985, September 16, 2000 - January 21, 2001. For more information please call 781-259-8355.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

The first of three books examining the arts in the Boston area, this book serves as the catalog to an exhibition at the DeCordova Museum, an institution dedicated to modern and contemporary art that was founded in 1950 in Lincoln, MA. The 30-year period covered here marks the beginning of the unequivocal acceptance of photography as an art form and ends before the emergence of digital photography. As the book demonstrates, Boston and environs have been a remarkably fertile field for photographic artists, scientists, teachers, critics, galleries, and magazines. The Polaroid Corporation, an exhibition sponsor that has its headquarters here, had just invented its revolutionary camera and film in 1947. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge claimed such influential teachers as Minor White (founder of the Center for Creative Photography) and Harold Edgerton (stroboscopic photographs). Boston University had Carl Chiarenza, who had moved there from Rochester Institute of Technology. Well-known Boston photographers are too numerous to list exhaustively but include Aaron Siskind, Paul Caponigro, Nan Goldin, Eugene Richards, Harry Callahan, Jerome Liebling, Marie Cosindas, Lotte Jacobi, Berenice Abbott, and Gyorgy Kepes. The essays divide the three decades in half and survey the early forays into science and mysticism and the later experimentation. Additional essays discuss Boston's remarkable publishing and critical contributions and those of the Polaroid Corporation. The reproduction quality is very fine. Highly recommended for photography and fine arts collections.DKathleen Collins, Bank of America Corporate Archives, San Francisco
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

"Boston, with its plethora of fine cultural, scientific, and educational institutions, has played an important role in the development of photography—both as a scientific tool and as a medium of artistic expression—since photography's invention in 1839. Photography in Boston: 1955-1985 successfully identifies the city's unique contributions during the mid-twentieth century and positions them solidly within the context of American photographic history for the first time. Can't wait for the pre-quel." Beth Gates Warren, freelance curator, collections consultant, and Director, Sotheby's New York Photographs Department, 1985-1995

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 206 pages
• Publisher: The MIT Press (August 21, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0262122294
• ISBN-13: 978-0262122290
• Product Dimensions: 10.7 x 9.8 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,181,856 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Artsy Catalog of Photography in Boston, November 29, 2011

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This review is from: Photography in Boston: 1955-1985 (Hardcover)

Do you recognize any of the following names? Howard Edgerton, Ansel Adams, Gyorgy Kepes, Berenice Abbott, Aaron Siskind, Minor White, Lotto Jacobek or Olvia Parker? The only name I'd known before reading this book is Ansel Adams. If I had read its description more carefully or even quickly, I'd have known that Photography in Boston is NOT a collection of photographs of Boston scenes and Landmarks. Instead is a catalog of photos exhibited in Boston in earlier decades.
It's also a collection of essays about the convergence of artists in Boston and their influence on the art of photography and indeed on its acceptance as an art form. The book also chronicles the growth and influence of the Polaroid Land cameras and the company's influence on photography. For some the use of instant photography was a way of circumventing censorship.

At the end of the book is a chronology of significant events in photography spanning 1924-1985 and compiled by Mary Louise Hoss and Gillian Nagler.

Although this book is not what I expected or hoped for it contains a multitude of wonderful pre-computer age photographs. It might be the perfect book for someone with an interest in art history or someone who is a serious student of photgraphy.