[Leica] Cutting edge photography

[imagist3 at mac.com (Lottermoser George)]

On Dec 5, 2007, at 11:34 AM, Phil Swango wrote:
> I saw this elsewhere and thought it was relevant to the thread.
>
> http://www.newsweek.com/id/73349

An interesting read. The author seems to have some bias ;~)

Phil also posted the following off list. I found it thoughtful and  
rich with Photographer references worth follow up by those interested.
I reprint here with his permission:

"George, I've given you question a little thought and am having  
trouble responding because I'm not sure how to parse "cutting edge"  
in this context.  I have links to the academic fine arts photography  
community here in New Mexico and my daughter is a recent graduate of  
the UNM program.  I have a friend who works for Joel-Peter Witkin,  
etc.  I went back to the PhotoEye site but I don't think the emphasis  
there is so much on new or novel or edgy as what's currently hot, and  
that could include older photogs as well.  Photogs who are getting a  
lot of attention right now are Jeff Wall, Alec Soth, Martin Parr, Nan  
Goldin, Philip-Lorca diCorsia, Reneke Dijkstra, Huger Foote, Uta  
Barthe, Gregory Crewdson, Bettina Rheims, Abelardo Morrell, Sylvia  
Plachy, Nikki S. Lee, Shana and Robert ParkeHarrison and many  
others.  Alec Soth just produced this year's Magnum Fashion magazine  
(Paris Minnesota), which should be pretty cutting edge by the usual  
definition.  I'm not sure if this is what you're looking for though.

There has been a pronounced tendency in art academia in recent years  
to de-emphasize what we called "art photography" in favor of the  
concept of using photography to make art in a variety of forms.  Also  
to use photography to document conceptual works, etc.  I recently had  
a chance to go through the archives of the late artist Robert  
Heinecken, who used photography extensively in his work but was not a  
photographer at all.  Same could be said of Ed Ruscha, except that he  
did start out as a photographer.  And many others.

I still enjoy and am challenged by Wm. Eggleston, Stephen Shore, Wm.  
Christenberry, and other folks who were probably cutting edge back  
when they first emerged but are part of the art establishment now.

If you can find it, I recommend a book by David Campany called "Art  
and Photography" (Phaidon, 2003).  It's a survey of photography in  
the fine arts since the 1960s with intelligent commentary.  My  
daughter used it as a textbook a couple of years ago.  Probably  
everyone in it was called cutting edge at one time or another. ;-) "

Regards,
George Lottermoser
george@imagist.com
www.imagist.com
Picture A Week - www.imagist.com/paw_07