If photography books are to become really viable as products, without meaning as “merchandise,” if they’re to be able to be self-sustaining as a produced artifact, they’ve got to go beyond the market in photography. […]
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Szarkowski’s patronage practices tread ever closer to cronyism, in effect if not by intent. His esthetic, insufficient to the medium’s current stage of evolution, verges on stagnation. His tenure at MoMA, which has been distinguished in many ways, now runs the risk of ending in increasingly acrimonious confrontation with practitioners of that very medium to which he has committed so much of his life. […] The question is hardly whether or not John Szarkowski chooses to “consider himself to be an influential force.” He is one, de facto and de jure. He knows he is one; to believe otherwise is to impute to him a naiveté bordering on the moronic. And he exercises his influence regularly and consistently, in a variety of ways, to support the photographers he favors. […] |
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Dog Day Afternoons: Bits & Pieces (12)
Surprisingly few members of the international photography network came out in public support of Liu Xia during her long ordeal; most of those who demonstrated and petitioned steadfastly on her behalf came from the literary community. […]