This book accompanies an exhibit that opened in March 2001 at the Oakland Museum, where Johnson is curator of fine art photography. Arranged chronologically along with the photographs are essays by five well-known photohistorians and critics: Therese Thau Heyman (who built the photography collection at the Oakland Museum from the 1960s), Peter Palmquist, Naomi Rosenblum, Sally Stein, and Andy Grundberg. "Everything worth photographing is in California," observed Edward Weston, and most of the greatest American photographers made photographs here. Though resident photographers felt ignored by mainstream, East Coast aesthetic arbiters, even at the end of the 19th century they were producing work that made Stieglitz's circle seem conservative. This survey presents fine examples of every process and period, from the earliest daguerreotypes to the work of highly experimental contemporary photographers. Perhaps its greatest feature is its focus on less familiar practitioners and their work: early Chinese studios, Gustavus Fagerstein's Yosemite photographs of the 1880s, Willard Worden's turn-of-the-century San Francisco, Alma Lavenson's images of children and her garden, John Paul Edward's industrial views, and Catherine Wagner's documentation of American classrooms. Highly recommended for photography, California history, and American studies collections. Kathleen Collins, Bank of America Corporate Archives, San Francisco
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Book Description
"Everything worth photographing is in California."—Edward Weston
A stunning visual history that celebrates 150 years of California's greatest photographers. From rare daguerreotypes of gold prospectors to Edward Weston's intimate portraiture, from glamour shots of Hollywood starlets to Dorothea Lange's arresting Dust Bowl imagery, Capturing Light offers a rich, extensive survey of the master photographers who have shaped the consciousness of a state—and a nation—for more than a century and a half. This lush book's 200 color plates reflect the pioneer spirit and avant-garde sensibility of California, including works from such greats as Ansel Adams, Imogen Cunningham, Edward S. Curtis, Oscar Maurer, and Carrie Mae Weems. Capturing Light also offers an illuminating series of essays by scholars who elucidate and in some cases prophesy how California's photographers have forever changed the medium of photography and affected a nation's conscience and aesthetic sensibility. Capturing Light is an essential work for any lover of photography and for those who seek the essence of California. An exhibition based on the book begins at the Oakland Museum in March 2001. 200 color plates.
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