For articles, see f2 eZine Archive 11 - July - Sept 2002

Archive #11 - July-September 2002


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Book Reviews



Pioneer Photographers of the Far West
A Biographical Dictionary, 1840-1865

by Peter E. Palmquist and Thomas R. Kailbourn
Foreword by Martha A. Sandweiss

Reviewed by Carole Glauber, Copyright 2002.

Pioneer Photographers of the Far West: A Biographical Dictionary, 1840-1865 is a fascinating window into our photographic past. With 679 pages,encompassing territory from Alaska through Central America and areas west of the Continental Divide, it is a huge labor of love. Authors, Peter Palmquist and Thomas Kailbourn are independent historians who devoted seven years of research, writing, and compiling information to create this volume. They are planning a series of five volumes with the next one less than a year away. Palmquist has already dedicated 30 years to his photo-historical work, with at least 50 books and dozens of journal articles to his credit.

This volume includes some 1500 entries about photographers or workers engaged in photographically related pursuits. Everything about Pioneer Photographers is useful and many aspects of it are unique. Biographical entries are not the typical thumbnail sketches or location lists from city directories. Rather, the entries are engrossing descriptions of people’s lives with context and references to others whose activities were of some influence on the given subject. Once they identified someone as photographically related, Palmquist and Kailbourn would try to track their entire lives. Each entry is carefully footnoted and lists sites where researchers can locate collections of the person’s work. The authors also followed people engaged in pre-photographic activities such as painted panoramas as examples of pre-motion picture activity. They listed retouchers, printers, manufacturers and sellers of photographic instruments and stock, publishers, lithographers, and engravers.

Pioneer Photographers devotes attention to each photographer, no matter how obscure. We read how these people lived and how their work and professional choices affected family life. We share their successes, failures, and struggles and meet all sorts of intriguing people engaged in photographic pursuits. For example, readers will encounter Pietro Mezzara, a cameo cutter or discover that quite a few people combined dentistry and photography. There was Frederick Coombs, “daguerreotypist, photographer, phrenologist, inventor, author, eccentric” who dressed as George Washington. On page 55 is a photograph of Eadweard James Muybridge dressed as a camera, preceding a section that takes a captivating look at his life. We learn about Eliza Anderson, an ambrotypist in Santa Rosa, California 1858-1859 and Sarah Dickens, a photographic card mounter in San Francisco. Alfred Bierstadt, known for his grandiose paintings also made stereographs, and from 1927-31, Ansel Adams printed postcards from George Fiske’s negatives. Fiske(1835-1918) and his wife lived in the Yosemite Valley for two years, making him the first photographer to live there year-round. Another entry describes the Museum of the Western World Institute in San Francisco in 1852. Open every evening except Sunday, the museum presented “An exhibition...of views from the Camera Obscura, with changes and variations of rare beauty and perfection.” Admission was one dollar, with “no charge for ladies and museum subscribers.”

Following the alphabetical biographical entries is a section on anonymous workers, five appendices, and an impressively comprehensive bibliography. The first appendix contains a list of photographic partnerships, companies and gallery names to cross reference with individual entries. Appendix 2 is a cross reference list of panoramas, stereopticons, cosmoramas, and other public performances. A list of women workers is in Appendix 3. Readers can be assured that where there were women workers, Palmquist has found them. Appendix 4 cites those known only as “artist” or “artiste” since many photographers listed themselves in directories as “artist.” Appendix 5 is a “Geographical Distribution of Workers.” The large number of California photographers working prior to 1865 is impressive, with the numbers in other states, Canada, Mexico, and Central America equally interesting. Finally, the bibliography lists close to 1000 manuscript resources, city and state directories and gazeteers, census lists, newspapers and periodicals, books, and articles and unpublished papers.

Pioneer Photographers is indeed an authoritative text on this subject. Palmquist and Kailbourn have assembled a monumental work that is thorough, readable, and enjoyable at the same time as informative. All historians of photography and western America should have a copy of this book on their desk.

Pioneer Photographers of the Far West: A Biographical Dictionary, 1840-1865
Stanford University Press, 2000
ISBN:0-8047-3883-1
679 pages


Sicilia Singolare Femminile
Photos by Donatella Polizzi Piazza
Text by Giovanna Bongiorno
published by Bonanno Editore, 1996

Reviewed by Carrie Villines (www.carrievillines.com)

 

“Sicilia Singolare Femminile” celebrates the women of Sicily by depicting a vibrant cross-section of female life in Sicily. In the 131-page photo book, which was sponsored by Leica and Ilford, Donatella Polizzi Piazza’s images explore the women who shape and define Sicily, while Giovanna Bongiorno’s text enhances the images by drawing a connection between Greek mythology and modern femininity.

In her introduction, Piazza calls this “an invitation to a journey among the women of Sicily who keep quiet only when they want to.” The women in this book clearly open themselves to the camera, appearing more confident than vulnerable, each conveying her own definition of femininity. Each picture depicts a woman with something to say, whether it’s a mother with her children or the feet of ballerinas on stage.

The images in the book share a common theme in the women depicted and in the beautiful graininess of the black & white images. Yet as much as the images are united by these elements, they are equally divergent in the sheer variety of women represented - artists, teachers, mothers, musicians, actors, artisans, school girls, gymnasts, chefs, nuns...there are as many different women as there are images in the book. The images are made even more unique by the environments in which these women are represented. The backdrops vary from bedrooms to churches, hair salons to ancient ruins, homes to stages. The types of images vary as well - some are portraits, some candid, some are posed while others clearly capture a singular moment in time.

Through its depiction of such diverse and interesting women, “Sicilia Singolare Femminile” reveals the particular energy and sensuality of Sicily as reflected by its female inhabitants.

Donatella Polizzi


Reconstructing Aphrodite

photography by Terry Lorant
Introduction and Essay by Dr. Loren Eskenazi,
Forward by Dr. Susan Love
Interviews by Helga Hayse

Each woman who is diagnosed with breast cancer is faced with her worst fears and a sense of hopelessness that pervades her every waking moment. Often, her anguish comes from the belief that she will no longer be attractive, or look or feel normal again. This book offers an answer to the confusion and fear that arises from this diagnosis.

The women portrayed are much more than their breast cancer survivors, they are a testament to the resilience of the human spirit. They are an example of an inner and outer beauty triumphing in the face of adversity. Their stories are inspirational to everyone, whether or not they have personally faced the specter of cancer.

Reconstructing Aphrodite with photos by Terry Lorant is a unique combination of photographic and surgical artistry and the courageous stories of women whose lives have been transformed, an intimate and visual gift so that no woman will ever have to face this challenge alone

..You cannot help but smile as you look on these pictures; magnificent women reclaiming their bodies and their lives - Dr. Susan Love

..The book is about much more than breast cancer. It is about renewal, resilience, and regeneration. I want to thank everyone who has added a piece of their heart and soul to this wonderful alchemy - Dr. Loren Eskenazi

Verve Editions- Printed in Italy
Contact : Paul Williams at MediaLine,
(310) 937-2009, to arrange interviews with any of the above or to receive more information about "Reconstructing Aphrodite."



Ruth Bernhard: Between Art and Life

Margaretta K. Mitchell  
Ruth Bernhard

From the Publisher
Ruth Bernhard: Between Art & Life is the first biography of this charismatic woman who kept her personal promise to infuse her art with life, and live her life through art." "At a time when women were rarely acknowledged in photography, Ruth carved out her own trademark style. With such zest for life and art, she has often ignored society's conventions related to age or gender. This individuality combined with great wisdom has attracted generations of devoted students. For over forty years Ruth has enjoyed a distinguished career as a revered workshop teacher and lecturer. Even into her nineties, her sparkling personality has not diminished. Ruth Bernhard: between Art & Life shares this beloved artist's recipe for a long and creative life.

Foreword 6
Introduction 9
My Life 21
Coming of Age 49
Giving My Heart to Photography 63
San Francisco 91
Teaching 119
Voices 138
Afterword 152
Selected Lectures and Accolades 153
Acknowledgments 154
Selected Exhibitions 155
Beloved Edward/Darling Ruth 156
Index 158

Format: Hardcover, 172pp.
ISBN: 0811821919
Publisher: Chronicle Books LLC
Pub. Date: September  2000

Also recommended: Ruth Bernhard: The Eternal Body
Format: Hardcover, 70pp.
ISBN: 0961651512
Publisher: Photography West Graphics, Incorporated
Pub. Date: January  1986
Edition Desc: 1st ed


THE MODEL WIFE

Format: Hardcover, 1st ed., 224pp.
ISBN: 0821221701
Publisher: Bulfinch Press
Pub. Date: October  1999

As director of the Museum of Photographic Arts in San Diego

Historically, many artists have established a symbiotic relationship with their favorite model, and some have taken it a step further and married their models (or made models of their wives). In The Model Wife, Arthur Ollman explores the relationship between nine of the most talented and influential photographers of the past century, including Edward Weston, Alfred Stieglitz, and Lee Friedlander, and their model-spouses.

From the Publisher
With provocative photographs by some of the best-known photographers of the past century, The Model Wife is a striking and original book about the place where marriage and photography converge.. "Friends, lovers, confidantes, collaborators - the multifaceted relationship between husband and wife takes on another dimension when the couple are also artist and muse. In The Model Wife, Arthur Ollman explores the imagery and photographic history of nine twentieth-century photographers who portrayed their wives over a period of years. He delves into issues of marriage itself and the powerful influences that such a partnership can have on artistic production. Comparisons between the couples and the resulting photographs enrich this discussion.

:Baron Adolph de Meyer and Baroness Olga de Meyer Alfred Stieglitz and Georgia O'Keeffe Edward Weston and Charis Weston Harry Callahan and Eleanor Callahan Emmet Gowin and Edith Gowin Lee Friedlander and Maria Friedlander Nicholas Nixon and Bebe Nixon Masahisa Fukase and Yoko Fukase Seiichi Furuya and Christine Gossler

You will see a fairly good representation of images with their wives as subject by nine important photographers (150 in black and white and 5 in color). These photographs show an intriguing progression of perception and relationship over time that you can and should judge for yourself. In almost all cases, the images cover at least a decade (and often more) so the time-lapse element of the relationship is strong.


In Real Life: Six Women Photographers

Leslie Sills  
Cindy Sherman (Photographer)  
Lola Alvarez Bravo (Photographer)

Format: Hardcover, 1st ed., 80pp.
ISBN: 0823414981
Publisher: Holiday House, Inc.
Pub. Date: September  2000
sales rank: 100,476

From School Library Journal  
Gr 6 Up-A celebration of the diverse careers and artistic styles of six photographers whose work spans nearly a century. Veterans Dorothea Lange, Imogen Cunningham, and Lola Alvarez Bravo are featured along with relative newcomers Elsa Dorfman, Carrie Mae Weems, and Cindy Sherman. In an upbeat voice, Sills traces the women's early lives and the events that propelled them to explore the world with a camera in hand, often breaking down ethnic and gender barriers in the process. While she does justice to the biographical details of her subjects, her discussions of their individual techniques suffer because there are too few photographs. The chapter on Lange, for example, has only nine photographs, and while five of them depict her evocative portraits of Dust Bowl refugees, they fail to reveal the breadth of her talent. Chapters on Bravo and Weems include just six representative works of each artist. However, an excellent bibliography and list of Web sites will point readers to sources containing additional visual elements.-William McLoughlin, Brookside School, Worthington, OH Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.


Early Work of Cindy Sherman 

From the Publisher
This volume contains two early photographic series—"Bus Riders" and "Murder Mystery People"—by Cindy Sherman, shot in 1976, soon after she graduated from art school. It is accompanied by a CD of found sound-based music by The Glove Compartment, aka Gian Carlo Feleppa.

Format: Hardcover, 40pp.
ISBN: 0965402037
Publisher: Glenn Horowitz Bookseller
Pub. Date: May  2001


Cindy Sherman: Retrospective

Amanda Cruz
Elizabeth Smith

Sherman made her name as a photographer with a sequence of self-portraits
in the form of movie stills, and since then she has remained one of the most influential of contemporary artists. This is a well-illustrated catalog to a major retrospective of her work that has been co-organized by the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago and the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art. 210 color illustrations

 

Foreword
Lenders to the Exhibition
Movies, Monstrosities, and Masks: Twenty Years of Cindy Sherman 1
The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters 19
Tracing the Subject with Cindy Sherman 33
Plates 55
Checklist of the Exhibition 197
Artist's Biography 201
Selected Bibliography 208
Acknowledgments 218

Format: Paperback, 2nd ed., 220pp.
ISBN: 050027987X
Publisher: Thames & Hudson
Pub. Date: August 2000


Annie Leibovitz - WOMEN

Susan Sontag
Annie Leibovitz (Photographer)

Women, award-winning photographer Annie Leibovitz celebrates the rich and varied roles women play in society at the dawn of the new millennium. Here are the celebrity photos -- Jodie Foster, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Elizabeth Taylor -- for which Leibovitz is perhaps best known, but they stand alongside stunning depictions of less famous women -- an astronaut, a rancher, a dancer, an architect -- whose contributions to the world we live in are no less valuable for being less celebrated. Susan Sontag contributes an insightful and thought-provoking essay.

A book of photographs; a book about women; a very American project: generous, ardent, inventive, open-ended. It's for us to decide what to make of these pictures. After all, a photograph is not an opinion. Or is it?

SUSAN SONTAG

Format: Paperback, 256pp.
ISBN: 0375756469
Publisher: Random House, Incorporated
Pub. Date: October  2000
Edition Desc: REPRINT
sales rank: 18,954


Florence Henri, Artist-Photographer of the Avant-Garde: 
Artist Photographs of the Avant-garde

San Francisco Museum of Modern Art 
Florence Henri

Format: Paperback, 158pp.
ISBN: 0918471176
Publisher: San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
Pub. Date: January  1992

Florence Henri (1893-1982) was born in the United States but spent most of
her life in France, where she was closely associated with major figures of
European modernism. Initially a student of painting at Fernand Léger and
Amdée Ozenfant's Académie Moderne in Paris, she quickly became a gifted
participant in the most advanced art movements of the time -- late Cubism,
Purism, and Constructivism. In 1928, having spent a semester at the Bauhaus
in Dessau, she turned to the camera and moved swiftly from the avant-garde of
one art form to the avant-garde of another. For a heady ten years before the
interruption of World War II, Henri created an extraordinary body of
work--still lifes, abstract compositions, advertising photographs, and
photomontages--that contributed to the development of geometric abstract art
and of modern photography in France. Florence Henri: Artist-Photographer of
the Avant-garde is the first extensive treatment of Henri's work published in
the English language. This richly illustrated monograph offers a concentrated
examination of the artist in the context of her time, focusing on the
remarkably productive period between the world wars when she realized her
most avant-garde efforts.

To purchase this publication, please call 415.357.4035, fax 415.357.4043, or
email: museumstore@sfmoma.org.


Our Mothers: Portraits by 72 Women Photographers

Viviane Esders

Format: Hardcover, 160pp.
ISBN: 1556704429
Publisher: Stewart, Tabori & Chang, Inc.
Pub. Date: March  1996

Description from The Reader's Catalog
Portraits of their mothers and themselves by, among others, Annie Leibovitz, Mary Ellen Mark, Inge Morath, Elizabeth Lennard, and Gisele Freund.

From the Publisher
Our Mothers is a remarkable collection of portraits and essays by women photographers of different generations, cultures, and races. Paris gallery owner and editor, Viviane Esders, offered each photographer the opportunity to fill a double page spread with words and pictures describing her mother. All of the participants presented Esders with a unique artistic capsule that illustrates the indestructible bond between mother and daughter. Some provided their own portraits, others submitted a beloved family photograph &3151 often of a beautiful young woman before she became a mother — and a few created a work of art to best symbolize their perception of mother. These seventy-two personal statements illuminate the magical, often mystical, sometimes emotional, but always fascinating relationships between mothers and daughters. And the international quality of these portraits reinforces the universality of such relationships.


The Witch of Kodakery: The Photography of Myra Albert Wiggins, 1869-1956

Carole Glauber  
Myra Albert Wiggins

From the Publisher
The Witch of Kodakery is the ground-breaking biography of Myra Albert Wiggins, the successful early 20th-century Oregon photographic artist with connections to Alfred Stieglitz and the Photo-Secession. Myra Wiggins (1869-1956) embodied the ideal of the "new woman" - independent, energetic, and ambitious - as depicted by the Eastman Kodak Company's "Kodak Girl" and promoted as "The Witchery of Kodakery." In Witch of Kodakery, biographer Carole Glauber resurrects Wiggins' pioneering role with a provocative text and fine examples of the artist's work, particularly from Wiggins' most prolific years, 1889 to the early 1910s. Also included is a foreword by Terry Toedtemeier, curator of photography at the Portland Art Museum.

Format: Hardcover, 152pp.
ISBN: 0874221498
Publisher: Washington State University Press
Pub. Date: July  1997


Reframings: New American Feminist Photographies

Diane Neumaier (Editor)  
Foreword by Anne Wilkes Tucker

Format: Paperback, 336pp.
ISBN: 1566393329
Publisher: Temple University Press
Pub. Date: August  1998

Synopsis
This "is a collection of contemporary, photo-based artworks and critical essays that examines feminist perspectives on the politics of visual representation and its impact on women's lives... {Themes include} gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, class, and age. The book is divided into eight... chapters that combine artworks and essays by known and unknown artists." (Choice)

From the Publisher
Concern about how women are represented, despite varied and often conflicting conceptions of feminism, is the underlying force in this collection. Eight critical essays grounded in feminist analysis explore the different issues that arise in these artists' visual representations, including social space, family life, child care, work, food, romance, sexuality, advertising, and consumer culture. They are feminist critics looking at feminist art, an act Diane Neumaier argues happens all too rarely as feminist critics have in the past busied themselves with critiquing dominant culture. Together these artworks and essays explore the dynamics of visual images and ideology, including expressions and interpretations of autobiographical photographic projects, self-representation of women's bodies, conflicting identities, and the relationship between photographer and

From Library Journal  
Some of the 45 women artists presented here are well known (e.g., Nan Goldin, Susan Meiselas, Anne Noggle, Cindy Sherman, and Carrie Mac Weems)

These photographers attempt to "reframe" women in positions of power and authority or to present images that aim to shock us into confronting the reality of women's roles in society. While the quality of the writing and reproductions is uneven, this book would be a valuable addition to collections of contemporary photography or women's studies.Kathleen Collins, New York Transit Museum Archives, Brooklyn


Pioneer Photographers of the Far West
A Biographical Dictionary, 1840-1865
Peter E. Palmquist and Thomas R. Kailbourn
Foreword by Martha A. Sandweiss

"A rare example of a readable and even entertaining reference book... here are tales of family drama and stories of business squabbles, accounts of the first women to pursue photography in the Far West, and the story of the first Chinese person to make pictures in San Francisco... A book which sets new standards for research and becomes an instant bible for anyone working in the fields of western American history or the history of photography."

"Distinguished by its imaginative breadth, its copious scholarship and its entertaining literary style, Pioneer Photographers of the Far West becomes the standard that future biographical compendia and photographic history books will aspire to match." From the Foreword by Martha A. Sandweiss

This extraordinarily comprehensive, well-documented, biographical dictionary of some 1,500 photographers (and workers engaged in photographically related pursuits) active in western North America before 1865 is enriched by some 250 illustrations, many of them previously unpublished.

Stanford University Press

pp. 704 ¾¾250 illustrations
cloth isbn: 0-8047-3883-1 ¾¾$125.00

Additional Books by Peter Palmquist


Parents at Last: Celebrating Adoption and the New Pathways to Parenthood
Cynthia V. N. Peck and Wendy Wilkinson, Photographs by Helen Kolikow Garber

For some, parenthood comes easily; for others, the path to parenthood is long and paved with challenges, not only physical but emotional and financial as well. In words and photographs, Parents at Last celebrates 32 couples and individuals who perservered in their quest to become parents, often in the face of formidable odds.

Hardcover: 50 b/w photographs
160 pages 11" x 8 3/4"
Clarkson N. Potter, Inc. ISBN 0-609-60290-X


No Easy Walk, Newark, 1980-1993
Text and photographs by Helen M. Stummer

The book depicts the suburbanites journey into the ghetto, records what she has experienced and celebrates the human spirit.

"No Easy Walk is enormously moving. Carol and her neighbors come vividly to life. The author nicely avoids the customary condescension of too many visitors in poor communities and infuses Newark's Central Ward with all the mixture of sorrow and courage that its residents display...Carol emerges as a woman of tremendous strength and dignity. I hope the book is widely read." - Jonathan Kozol.

Along with meaningful and compassionate photographs, Stummer has provided a brief history of Newark, highlighting its early strengths and clearly itemizing the steps along its decay.

Temple University Press
Philadelphia, 1994
140 pp 16x7
Softcover ISBN 1-566 39-242-x
Hardcover ISBN 1-566 39-243-8

Available at Barnes and Noble.


A History of Women Photographers by Naomi Rosenblum

Here is yet another publication that strives to rescue from oblivion the neglected achievements of women in the visual arts. Juxtaposing the past 155 years of photographic history with events from women's social history, Rosenblum (A World History of Photography, LJ 2/1/85) documents women's contributions to the technological, artistic, and experimental development of photography. Her feminist narrative explores women's creativity both as a means of self-expression and as a lucrative profession. The 36 color plates, along with over 200 black-and-white illustrations, include fine examples of portraiture, advertising, and photojournalism. The last section contains valuable thumbnail biographies of approximately 240 female photographers-from the obscure to the famous-whose illustrations appear in the text. An ambitious bibliography makes this a prime tool and stimulus for researchers. Highly recommended for photography, women's studies, and young adult collections. -- From Library Journal Joan Levin, MLS

Hardcover,Ó2nd ed.,Ó400pp.
ISBN: 0789206587
Abbeville Press, Incorporated
AugustÓ 2000


ADDITIONAL BOOK CLIPS

Allworth Press Catalog List

WIPI suggested reading list of Allworth Press titles.
Please check their web site for more titles about The Business of Photography, Education and Promotion.

The Photographer's Guide to Marketing and Self-Promotion by Maria Piscopo (How to Find and Keep Good Paying Clients)

*** Maria is contributing writer to WIPI Marketing News. See our current and archival issues for her articles.

Well-known photographers' representative discusses specific and effective ways to build a marketing plan. Emphasis on how to establish long-term relationships. Includes discussion of pricing, taking advantage of market conditions and negotiating.

"Piscopo's book is full of specific practical information that takes into account today's difficult economic climate for commercial photographers...Promotion pieces, portfolios, advertising, public relations, rates, reps and the ethics of good business are just a few of the other topics covered in this excellent manual." --Popular Photography

6 3/4 x 10, 176 pages Softcover
ISBN 1-880559-24-2


ASMP Professional Business Practices in Photography by ASMP (American Society of Media Photographers)

Fifth Edition, unquestionably the authoritative source of information on business practices, standards, and resources for professional photographers.

6 3/4 x 10, 416 pages, Softcover
ISBN 0-927629-14-3


Business and Legal Forms for Photographers by: Tad Crawford

Covers electronic rights, essential forms and negotiation tactics. Includes an estimate form; confirmation of assignment, invoice; agency contract; releases and much more. A CD-ROM w/electronic versions of each form is provided.

8 1/2 x 11, 224 pages Softcover
ISBN 1-8890559-82-X


The Law (in Plain English) for Photographers by: Leonard DuBoff

A thorough discussion of the legal and business issues of everyday concern in professional photography. Topics covered include: copyright, defamation and libel, censorship and obscenity, business organization and taxes, working and living space, contracts and remedies, agents, estate planning and more.

6x9, 208 pages; Softcover
ISBN 1-880559-19-6


Pricing Photography by: Michael Heron & David MacTavish

This essential resource for photographers, art directors, and graphic designers explains how to price both assignment and stock photography and gives detailed pricing carts for every use from a magazine ad to a mug. Revised and updated, it covers pricing for electronic rights as well as new developments in business. (Also see ASMP above, both a must to be well informed on the business of Photography)

11 x 8 1/2, 152 pages, Softcover
ISBN: 1-880559-68-4


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For articles, see f2 eZine Archive 11 - July - Sept 2002