Alfred Stieglitz's Camera Notes

Category: Books,Arts & Photography,Photography & Video

Alfred Stieglitz's Camera Notes Details

From Library Journal Near the end of the 19th century, enthusiasm for the nascent art of photography took root in the proliferation of camera clubs throughout the United States and Europe. In 1897 the Camera Club of New York began a quarterly, Camera Notes , under the editorship of Alfred Stieglitz to promote amateur photography. This short-lived journal was notable for its carefully selected photogravures--an expensive photographic printing process resulting in soft, placidly beautiful images. Besides Stieglitz, Camera Notes featured many other prominent amateurs, including F. Holland Day, Gertrude Kasebier, and Prescott Adamson. Reflecting the Romanticism of American painting, Stieglitz's notions of artistic merit rarely strayed beyond landscape, portraiture, and still life. Thus, this book's usefulness remains largely limited to its reexamination of several long-forgotten photographers and its view into the formative years of the more celebrated Stieglitz. For large art and photography collections only.- Douglas F. Smith, Oakland P.L., Cal.Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. Read more From Booklist Camera Work is the best-known journal Alfred Stieglitz, that self-proclaimed high priest of turn-of-the-century photography, edited, but he earlier guided the New York Camera Club's journal of record, Camera Notes, through most of its short life, 1897-1903. This volume's excellent account of that editorship follows Stieglitz as he lost patience with club members and, led by his elitist vision, dramatically resigned to found Camera Work. Well-produced and serious, Camera Notes was liberally illustrated with fine gravures and many more halftone reproductions, all of which appear here--the gravures as beautiful colorplates, the halftones in small reference illustrations. There are many visual crossovers between Stieglitz's two journals, for he never hesitated in using his own photographs as illustrations, and some were in both journals, as were those of a few of his favorites--Gertrude Kasebier, for instance. This excellent addition to the literature of photography accompanies an exhibition to be seen in Minneapolis, Wichita, Phoenix, Detroit, Huntington (W. Va.), and Washington, D.C. Gretchen Garner Read more About the Author Christian A. Peterson is associate curator of photography at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. Read more

Reviews

This book should be read in the context of 'Camera Work' which was later published by Stieglitz. It gives a lot of historical insight into the Photo-Secessionist movement and some of the photographers exhibiting at the time that is not readily available other places. The book contains many great examples of their work along with ample informative text. There are inexpensive copies of 'Camera Work' available at Amazon. It and this book, 'Camera Notes', make a great if not necessary addition to someone interested in the art of photography's bookshelf.

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