What is a Photograph?

About this book

Bringing together a group of stylistically diverse but similarly adventurous and innovative artists this book explores the intense creative experimentation in photography that has occurred since the 1970s. Few people ask "What is a painting? A drawing? A sculpture?" But the medium of photography especially since the 1970s has been constantly changing as technological developments allow for endless experimentationuntil the very definition of a photograph becomes ripe for debate. Beginning with the waning days of conceptual art this book presents a wide variety of artistsamong them James Welling Christopher Williams Marco Breuer Alison Rossiter Sigmar Polke and Gerhard Richterwho have reconsidered and reinvented the role of light color composition materiality and subject in the art of photography. Brought together for the first time in book form these individuals have found new ways of implementing both analog and digital technology in many cases creating hybrid works that open up new possibilities for todays artists. Filled with brilliant color reproductions this volume not only traces the many strands of experimentation that have developed out of conceptual art but also encourages dialogue on the continuing experimentation that is occurring as photography continues to evolve within the analog and digital worlds.