An Alternate History of Photography – Phillip Prodger

In an essay at the start of this book Prodger tackles head on the idea that, until recently, published histories of photography have ‘not been equitable, disproportionately celebrating the achievements of European and American white men.’ Prodge quotes the scholar Hermut Gernsheim saying in the 1970s that “there are [no] major photographers left to be discovered”. Prodger identifies Gernsheim’s mistake as thinking of photography as a great white whale , to be tracked, harpooned and landed. Whereas Prodger sees it as an art form that delivers ‘more fully on its democratic promise than early scholars ever imagined’. The established canon is problematic, ‘littler more than a thin crust perched atop a bubbling cauldron of creative expression’.

The pages following this essay are set out in chronological order with works by some names that will be familiar (William Eggleston, Lee Miller, Ansel Adams) others that will not and others still that are by unidentified photographers.

Hardback. 256 pages.

Measurements:

21.6cm x 26.6cm x 2.6cm

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