Focus on Photography

摘要

This slim catalog of the J. Paul Getty Museum's exhibition In Focus: Animalia is an engaging, serious look at how animals have been depicted in photography from the early 1800s to the present. Among the captivating photographs are a caged lion (1879); a boy with a parrot (1856, hand colored); war horses at the battle of Fredericksburg, 1863; and a bird in flight (1930s). Included are works by 80 artists, from anonymous mid-19th-century daguerreotypists to great photographers such as Ead-weard Muybridge, Alfred Stieglitz, August Sander, Lisette Model, Garry Winogrand, and Robert Map-plethorpe. A 12-page essay traces technical advances in photography often developed through efforts to photograph animals both wild and domestic, and outlines how images of animals lent support to a growing U.S. conservation movement starting in the early 20th century. Finally, it considers the influence of other art media trends on photographers, particularly painting. VERDICT Casual readers will enjoy browsing this work, while serious students of photography will find within its pages much to learn.