Photography Until Now

by John Szarkowski, Richard E. Oldenburg (Foreword)

Traces the first one hundred and fifty years of photography, and shows photographs of representative artists from William Henry Fox Talbot to Cindy Sherman

Genres: Photography, Art

343 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1990

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

[Vikas Singh · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good reference book to understand development of photography and how great masters have viewed this art. Of particular interest is how dry plate process and George Eastman's Kodak cameras suddenly made photography so easy and within the grasp of common man, taking it rightfully away from those bent to making it high art. It also documents contribution of people like Edward Curtis and Maybridge in making photography universally accessible.

[Marik Casmon]

An excellent history of the development of photography from its beginnings. Lots of technical information buttressed with interesting and arresting photographs.