Nearby Café Home > Art & Photography > Photocritic International

Get new posts by email:
Follow me on Mastodon: @adcoleman@hcommons.social     Mastodon logo

21st-Century Photo Collections (a)

Photography collecting as a field is still at such an early stage in its development that in the late ’70s connoisseurship alone was deemed worthy of extensive media attention and considerable corporate/governmental patronage. Wagstaff’s cunning in getting sponsors to cover the promotional costs of a marketing enterprise clearly contrived to net him a small fortune raised no eyebrows I’m aware of, save my own. […]

George Tice (1938-2025): A Farewell

Tice’s pictures sometimes include people, but their visible presence in the flesh is rarely central to his vision, which instead investigates a largely depopulated urban and rural environment, a set of physical structures rather than social interactions. To the extent that he concerns himself with the past and present inhabitants of these locales, he addresses them through what they have built there and the marks they have left behind, not through the activities and behaviors of the present-day citizenry. In that sense, his motive is more archaeological than sociological. […]

Birthday Musings 12/19/24

Recovering Nicely, Thanks

I turn 81 today. Given the state of the union, and the world, I find myself in reasonably good spirits. And, while I’m recovering from a chest cold, I’d have to say that I find myself in reasonably good health.

I’m up to date on all my shots, so I […]

Reinventing Photography (1974)

Many contemporary artists appear to believe that photography is a virgin territory without a history, free from relevant precedents and prior accomplishments: a brand new field of ideas which have not even been touched on by the medium’s own practitioners, in which any small step breaks new ground. […]

Art Critics: Our Weakest Link (1974)

The lack of knowledgeability of the art critics in regard to photography does not stop with them; it is transmitted to both the audience and the artists. Such a situation is not merely regrettable, but damaging to all concerned. […]