Is Photography Over?

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Alright alright, I've been meaning to mention this too and didn't get to it in time, but since most of us don't live in San Francisco we wouldn't have been able to go anyway:

Unknown, Untitled (Man Reflected in Mirror). Photograph, undated. Collection of SFMOMA

As part of its 75th anniversary celebration, yesterday the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art kicked off a major forum on photography, wherein guests such as Philip-Lorca diCorcia, Peter Galassi, Vince Aletti, Jennifer Blessing, and other experts in the field weigh in with answers to the question "Is Photography Over?" Here's part of diCorcia's answer, which I enjoyed:

William James said, "Wisdom is learning what to overlook". We now look at everything, including the invisible. Photography, a mechanical form of looking, is intrinsically limited in what it can show. There lies the wisdom. The current crisis is partially caused by attempts to extend Photography's capability. Maybe it will succeed and show us something new we don't really need to see, or maybe it will fail and be the wiser for it.

Read the rest, and everyone else's initial responses to the question, here – and follow SFMOMA's blog throughout the month for more on the topic.



Serge Gainsbourg "Negative Blues"