From Library Journal
Trachtenberg's sophisticated discussion finds in American photographs a way of reading the past--"the past as culture, as ways of thinking and feeling, as experience." For this study he considers images originally edited as albums, books, or photo-stories. In such works as Mathew Brady's Gallery of Illustrious Americans, the Civil War albums of Alexander Gardner and George Barnard, Timothy O'Sullivan's Western survey photographs, Lewis Hine's social work projects and texts, and Walker Evans's American Photographs, he sees photographers trying to make sense of their society while seeking to create a role for photography as an American art. This impressive analysis, which employs social, cultural, and political history as well as art criticism, is highly recommended for American studies and photography collections. (Photographs not seen.) --Ann Copeland, Drew Univ. Lib., Madison, N.J.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. --Ce texte fait référence à une édition épuisée ou non disponible de ce titre.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. --Ce texte fait référence à une édition épuisée ou non disponible de ce titre.
Daniel Aaron, Harvard University
"Brilliantly elucidates how an informed cultural historian sees and interprets American images through the camera's eye."
