The World of Francis Cooper: Nineteenth-Century Pennsylvania Photographer [Hardcover]

Jay Ruby (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0271017627 | ISBN-13: 978-0271017624 | Publication Date: April 1, 1999 | Edition: First edition.

The World of Francis Cooper is a biographical exploration of Francis Cooper, who practiced photography as an aesthetic recreation while a medical student at the University of Pennsylvania. It offers an unusual perspective on turn-of-the century American photography by examining the work of an unknown avocational photographer.Cooper was a native Philadelphian of sufficient means to indulge in several recreations: competitive shooting, bicycling, and photography. From 1896 to 1901 he traveled to the Pennsylvania countryside to hunt, fish, bicycle, court his wife, and photograph landscapes, genre farm scenes, and the spoils of his hunts. In the city he took snapshots of his family, and of his friends and colleagues, as well as candids and genre studies of the romance of city life. Largely confined to this five-year period, his work in photography ranged over several photographic practices from landscapes clearly attributable to the naturalistic school to pictorialist cityscapes.The World of Francis Cooper represents a social approach to photographic history and argues for a cultural understanding of photography as social practice. Reflecting on the life and work of Francis Cooper is a way to deepen our understanding of the place photography has assumed in the lives of many Americans while at the same time having the pleasure of seeing his wonderful photographs.

Editorial Reviews

Review

An unexceptional man whose trophies testify to moments of exceptional self-reflection, Francis Cooper now has a place which does him more honor than that of an acclaimed artist. Tangible records of his pleasure in looking at the world have survived. Jay Ruby deserves our appreciation for making him available to us. --Alan Trachtenberg, Visual Anthropology Review

The World of Francis Cooper represents a social approach to photographic history and argues for a cultural understanding of photography as social practice. The book, also a biographical exploration of Cooper, offers an unusual perspective on turn-of-the-century American photography by examining the oeuvre of a largely unknown avocational photographer. --Pennsylvania Heritage

About the Author

Jay Ruby is Professor of Anthropology, Temple University. His most recent book is Secure the Shadow: Death and Photography in America (MIT, 1995).

Product Details

• Hardcover: 266 pages
• Publisher: Pennsylvania State University Press; First edition. edition (April 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0271017627
• ISBN-13: 978-0271017624
• Product Dimensions: 11.3 x 8.8 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.9 pounds
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,559,028 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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