Mirrors and Windows: American Photography Since 1960.

by John Szarkowski

One hundred and twenty seven photographs from an exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art, organized to illustrate the development of the art since 1960

Genres: Photography, The United States Of America, Art

152 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1978

About the author

John Szarkowski was an American photographer and curator best known for his role as the director of the Museum of Modern Art’s Photography Department from 1962 through 1991. “Photography is the easiest thing in the world if one is willing to accept pictures that are flaccid, limp, bland, banal, indiscriminately informative, and pointless,” he once explained. “But if one insists in a photograph that is both complex and vigorous it is almost impossible.”

Born Thaddeus John Szarkowski on December 18, 1925 in Ashland, WI, he went on receive a degree in art history from the University of Wisconsin, Madison in 1948. After working as a museum photographer at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, he moved to Buffalo to teach photography. The artist then relocated to Chicago, where he worked on his photobook The Idea of Louis Sullivan (1956). After his appointment at MoMA in 1962, Szkarowski would help launch the careers of Diane Arbus, Lee Friedlander, and William Eggleston, among several others during his tenure. He also published acclaimed books on the history of photography, including The Photographer’s Eye (1966) and Looking at Photographs: 100 Pictures from the Collection of The Museum of Modern Art (1973).

After retiring from the museum in 1991, Szarkowski resumed his own career in photography. He died on July 7, 2007 in Pittsfield, MA. Today, the artist’s works are held in the collections of the Art Institute of Chicago, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, among others.

Reviews

[Steven · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a must read/view for anyone into photography. As a practitioner for a few years this book makes explicit a divide within photography that I knew was there, but didn’t have the language to describe. I feel like it better helps me to better understand myself as a photographer and the medium as a whole. I loved this and will definitely have to reread. Free PDFs are available online.

[Joe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Every 4-5 years I revisit this book and always enjoy the analysis of this important span of photographic history.

Previously: I recently re-visited this book and the essay, despite some flourishes in the vocabulary dept., is very thought provoking. Highly recommended.

[Holden Richards · Rating 4 out of 5]

Szarkowski always has something insightful to say. Perhaps the best essayist on photography ever. This book is no exception.

[dv · Rating 4 out of 5]

The photographic selection is not - in my opinion - as good and consistent as the one contained in The Photographer's eye. But the distinction which gives the book its title (generated by the opposition between Minor White and Robert Frank) is fundamental for the history of photography.