Review by Choice Review
This extravagant and overdesigned catalog was produced in conjunction with the exhibition "The Photography of Invention" at the National Museum of American Art in celebration of the sesquicentennial of photography. It features an extensive selection of American 1980s photoartists working in what author/curator Joshua Smith, in his essay, considers "nontraditional works that subvert traditional styles to discover or invent new ones." His basic premise of the exhibition does emphasize style over concept. By using the vehicle of the straight unmanipulated print as a foil for his thesis, Smith suggests that these artists bring into question photographic representation as accepted truth. The reproductions, one per artist, are extraordinarily good and are perhaps the best reason to buy the book. However, little information about each artist is presented, leaving the reproduction to let the work speak for itself. Also included are an exhibition checklist and a good but brief selected bibliography. -J. Natal, Rochester Institute of Technology
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Booklist Review
An exhibition at the National Museum of American Art in Washington displays what curator Smith calls "the new photography"--arranged, fabricated, and fictional images, all purely photographic in generation--by 90 photo art~ists. One work by each maker appears in the show's hefty catalog, and many seem in need of much more explanation than the introductory essay affords. Nevertheless, the book constitutes a well-illustrated showcase of the postmodern photography of the 1980s, which, Smith argues, "is not purposelessly inventive and detached from life, but rather in its own way is an authentic documentation of the live fictions and the genuine inauthenticity of our times." Exhibition checklist, selected bibliography. --Gretchen Garner
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
Review by Booklist Review
