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A chronicle of the history of photography from its invention to the present as told through the rich holdings of the National Gallery of Art, Washington
See InsideOverview
The Altering Eye marks the twenty-fifth anniversary of the founding of the National Gallery of Art's photography collection, celebrating the vitality, breadth and history of its holdings. In 1949 Georgia O'Keeffe gave the National Gallery of Art, Washington an extraordinary gift: a collection of more than 1,600 Alfred Stieglitz photographs known as the Key Set, the largest and most complete collection of his work in existence. It was not until 1990, however, that the Gallery actively began collecting photographs. Under the stellar leadership of Sarah Greenough, senior curator and head of the department of photographs, the Gallery's collection has expanded to nearly 15,000 American and European photographs dating from the invention of the medium in 1839 to the present day.
This richly illustrated volume features some of the most significant and compelling photographs the Gallery has acquired over the years and also charts the development of photography throughout its history, revealing the beauty and multifaceted nature of the medium. Following an essay by Sarah Greenough on the changing position of photography within the art museum and the development of the National Gallery's own collection, the book includes four essays by Greenough, Sarah Kennel, Diane Waggoner and Andrea Nelson tracing the evolution of photography over the past 175 years. In addition there are twenty-three shorter essays by Greenough, Kennel, Nelson, and Waggoner, along with Philip Brookman, focusing on some of the medium's most distinguished practitioners, including David Octavius Hill and Robert Adamson, Julia Margaret Cameron, Eadweard Muybridge, Eugène Atget, Alfred Stieglitz, André Kertész, Ilse Bing, Robert Frank, Gordon Parks, Robert Adams and Rineke Dijkstra, among others whose work the National Gallery holds in great depth.
In 1948 Georgia O'Keeffe wrote to a friend, 'Stieglitz worked for the recognition of Photography as a Fine Art - The Gallery means something in relation to that.' This volume and its insightful texts by the Gallery's photography curators is testament that indeed it does.
Reviews
'A beautifully produced guided tour of some of the greatest photographic achievements of the last 150 years'
Royal Photographic Society Journal
'A fabulous reference and source of inspiration, this book warrants a place on any photographer’s bookshelf'
Black & White Photography
'Speaks to the enormous power of the photographic image'
Herald
Product Information
Book Details
Format: Hardback
Size: 28.5 x 29.5 cm
Extent: 380 pp
Publication date: 29 February 2016
ISBN: 9780500544525
Contents List
Director’s Foreword • 25th Anniversary Supporters • 1. Changing Visions: Photography and the Art Museum, Sarah Greenough • 2. Discovery: 1839 – 1890, Sarah Kennel and Diane Waggoner • 3. Expansion: 1890 – 1945, Sarah Kennel and Diane Waggoner • 4. Reflection: 1945 – 1965, Sarah Greenough • 5. Reinvention: 1965 – 2015, Andrea Nelson
About the Author
Sarah Greenough is the chief curator and head of the department of photographs at the National Gallery of Art, Washington.
List of Contributors
Sarah Kennel, Diane Waggoner, Andrea Nelson, Philip Brookman, Earl A. Powell III
