Szarkowski, J. (1978) Mirrors and Windows. New York: MoMA.
[2Apr20] Szarkowski writes elegantly and persuasively in an analysis of what he describes as a 'view of the art of photography as it has evolved in the United States in the past two decades' (the book was published in 1978). He identifies two strands of development, representing a 'fundamental dichotomy' between 'those who think of photography as a means of self-expression and those who think of it as a method of exploration'. He then examines at length how those strands developed and where they were rooted. He describes photography's failure to engage with the important social issues of the day and the rapid growth of art schools on US campuses which had produced large numbers of photo-literate graduates (both photographers and artists working primarily in other media). The three most significant events in the development of US photography in the 1950s, Szarkowski states, were the founding of Aperture magazine, The Family of Man exhibition and the publication of Robert Frank's The Americans.
The first part of the book shows the subjective, 'lean[ing] towards autobiography or autoanalysis' - mirrors, the second part, the more 'disinterested or objective' - windows†, although he notes that there is 'a continuum, a single axis with two poles' and '[m]any of the pictures … live close to the axis'. The essay ends,
The two creative motives that have been contrasted here are not discrete. Ultimately each of the pictures in this book is part of a single, complex, plastic tradition. Since the early days of that tradition, an interior debate has contested issues parallel to those illustrated here. The prejudices and inclinations expressed by the pictures in this book suggest positions that are familiar from older disputes. In terms of the best photography of a half century ago, one might say that Alfred Stieglitz is the patron of the first half of this book and / Eugene Atget of the second. In either case, what artist could want a
more distinguished sponsor? The distance between them is to be / measured not in terms of the relative force or originality of their work, but in terms of their conceptions of what a photograph is: is it a mirror, reflecting a portrait of the artist who made it, or a window, through which one might better know the world? Szarkowski, Mirrors and Windows, p.25
† I must say that I am glad I found that paragraph today because I was struggling to decide which half was which, even in the light of the lengthy quote immediately above.
Robert Adams W50, W51
Diane Arbus W22, W23, W24, W25
Bill Arnold M39
Lewis Baltz M52
Joseph Bellanca M14
Richard Benson M51
Gary Beydler M35
Paul Caponigro, M05, M05, M46, M47
Walter Chappell I01, M03
Michael Ciavolino W16
William Clift M50
Mark Cohen M40
Linda Connor M43
Marie Cosindas W41
Robert Cumming W49
William Curret W09
Joseph Dankowski M45
Judy Dater M20
Bruce Davidson M08
Roy DeCarava M01, M02
John M. Divola Jr. M53
William Eggleston W42
Elliott Erwitt W01, W02
Lee Friedlander W10, W11, W52, W53
William Gedney W07
Ralph Gibson M21
Emmet Gowin M42
Jan Groover W45
Ernst Haas M28
Gary L. Hallman M41
Chauncey Hare W36
Dave Heath M10
Robert Heinecken M19, M32
Richard P. Hume W38
Scott Hyde M31
Ken Josephson W14, W15
Simpson Kalisher W06
Irwin B. Klein W12
George Krause M09
Leslie Krims M22
Jerome Leibling M12
Helen Levitt W40
Sol LeWitt W29
Danny Lyon M13
Joan Lyons M36
Jerry McMillan M27
Robert Mapplethorpe M54
Joel Mayerowitz W13, W44
Roger Mertin M17, M23
Ray K. Metzker W18, W19, W20
Sheila Metzner W37
Duane Michals M16, M38
Richard Misrach M49
John Mott-Smith W27
Nicholas Nixon W54, W55
Tetsu Okuhara W21
Bill Owens W33
Tod Papageorge W47
Gianni Penati M15
Sylvia Plachy W17
Eliot Porter W39
Douglas Prince M26
Edward Ranney M48
Robert Rauschenberg M30, M37
Leland Rice M34
Edward Ruscha W26
Lucas Samaras M33
Naomi Savage M24
Stephen Shore W43
Art Sinsabaugh I02, W08
Keith A. Smith M29
Rosalind Solomon W35
Eve Sonneman W46
Lew Thomas W28
George A. Tice M44
Jerry N. Uelsmann M06, M07
Max Waldman M11
Todd Walker M18
Andy Warhol M25
Henry Wessel Jr W48
Geoff Winningham W32
Gary Winogrand W03, W04, W05, W30, W31
Bill Zulpo-Dane W34
Introduction
01 Walter Chappell, Hallway, 1952
02 Art Sinsabaugh, Chicago Landscape #299, 1956
Part I [Mirrors]
01 Roy DeCarava, Number 10, 1958
02 Roy DeCarava, Self-Portrait, 1956
03 Walter Chappell, Untitled, 1959
04 Paul Caponigro, Untitled, 1957
05 Paul Caponigro, Fungus, Ipswich, Massachusetts, 1962
06 Jerry N. Uelsmann, Untitled, 1966
07 Jerry N. Uelsmann, Untitled, 1964
08 Bruce Davidson, Untitled, from the series, Teen-Agers, 1959
09 George Krause, Untitled, from the series, Qui Riposa, n.d.
10 Dave Heath, Arnie and Sheila in 7 Arts Cofee Gallery, New York, 1959
11 Max Waldman, Untitled, (Marat/Sade), 1966
12 Jerome Leibling, Slaughter House, 1960-61
13 Danny Lyon, Ellis Prison, Texas, 1968
14 Joseph Bellanca, A Special Place, 1964
15 Gianni Penati, Untitled, 1956-64
16 Duane Michals, Untitled, 1968
17 Roger Mertin, Casual Heart #1, 1969
18 Todd Walker, Untitled, 1970
19 Robert Heinecken, Refractive Hexagon, 1965
20 Judy Dater, Joyce Goldstein in Her Kitchen, 1969
21 Ralph Gibson , The Enchanted Hand, 1969
22 Leslie Krims, Untitled, 1970
23 Roger Mertin, Tree, Rochester, New York, 1973
24 Naomi Savage, Beforehand, 1968
25 Andy Warhol, Marilyn Monroe, 1967
26 Douglas Prince, Seed Chamber, 1970
27 Jerry McMillan, Untitled, Torn Bag, 1968
28 Ernst Haas, Corner of 38th Street, 1952
29 Keith A. Smith, Figure in Landscape, 1966
30 Robert Rauschenberg, Kiesler, 1966
31 Scott Hyde, Fruit, 1967
32 Robert Heinecken, Cliche Vary / Autoeroticism, 1974
33 Lucas Samaras, Photo-Transformation #6469, 1976
34 Leland Rice, Wall Site #34, 1977
35 Gary Beydler, 20 Minutes in April, 1976
36 Joan Lyons, Untitled, from Artifacts, 1973
37 Robert Rauschenberg, Unit (Buffalo), 1969
38 Duane Michals, Chance Meeting, 1960
39 Bill Arnold, Untitled, c. 1970
40 Mark Cohen, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, June, 1975
41 Gary L. Hallman, Minnehaha Alley, 1971
42 Emmet Gowin, Danville, Virginia, 1973
43 Linda Connor, Untitled, 1976
44 George A. Tice, Petit's Mobil Station and Watertower, Cherry Hill, New Jersey, 1974
45 Joseph Dankowski, Manholes, 1969-71
46 Paul Caponigro, Avebury Stone Circle, Avebury, Wiltshire, England, 1967
47 Paul Caponigro, Avebury Stone Circle (Detail), Avebury, Wiltshire, England, 1967
48 Edward Ranney, Coba, Mexico, n.d.
49 Richard Misrach, Stone #4 (Stonehenge #1), 1976
50 William Clift, The Enchanted Mesa, New Mexico, 1975
51 Richard Benson, Gravestone, Newport, Rhode Island, 1977-78
52 Lewis Baltz, Construction Detail, East Wall, Xerox, 1821 Dyer Road, Santa Anna, 1974
53 John M. Divola Jr., Untitled, 1974
54 Robert Mapplethorpe, Tulips, 1977
Part II [Windows]
01 Elliott Erwitt, Fontainebleau Hotel, Miami Beach, 1962
02 Elliott Erwitt, New Jersey, 1953
03 Gary Winogrand, New York, 1959
04 Gary Winogrand, Untitled,1957
05 Gary Winogrand, Los Angeles, 1964
06 Simpson Kalisher, Untitled, 1962
07 William Gedney, Untitled, 1964
08 Art Sinsabaugh, Number 64, 1962
09 William Curret, California Sycamore Number 1, 1961
10 Lee Friedlander, Galax, Virginia, 1962
11 Lee Friedlander, New York City, 1964
12 Irwin B. Klein, Minneapolis Fire, 1962
13 Joel Mayerowitz, Christmas, Kennedy Airport, 1967
14 Ken Josephson, Stockholm, 1967
15 Ken Josephson, Sweden, 1967
16 Michael Ciavolino, Boat Ride, Rye Beach, 1962
17 Sylvia Plachy, The Confrontation, 1965
18 Ray K. Metzker, Untitled, c. 1964
19 Ray K. Metzker, Untitled, c. 1966
20 Ray K. Metzker, Untitled, c. 1969
21 Tetsu Okuhara, Untitled 1971
22 Diane Arbus, A Young Man in Curlers at Home on West 20th Street, New York City, 1966
23 Diane Arbus, Untitled, 1970-71
24 Diane Arbus, A Child Crying, New York City, 1967
25 Diane Arbus, Man at a Parade on Fifth Avenue, New York City, 1969
26 Edward Ruscha, Two plates from Thirtfour parking lots in Los Angeles, 1967
27 John Mott-Smith, Computer-analyzed picture reducing continuous-toned image to component brightness levels, 1966
28 Lew Thomas, 9 Perspectives, 1972
29 Sol LeWitt, Brick Wall, 1977
30 Gary Winogrand, Los Angeles, California, 1969
31 Gary Winogrand, New York City Airport, c. 1972
32 Geoff Winningham, Tag Team Action, 1971
33 Bill Owens, Ronald Reagan, 1972
34 Bill Zulpo-Dane, Four Postcards, 1973-76
35 Rosalind Solomon, Untitled, 1975
36 Chauncey Hare, Escalon Hotel before Demolishment, San Joaqun Valley, California, 1968
37 Sheila Metzner, Evyan, 1975
38 Richard P. Hume, Untitled, 1974
39 Eliot Porter, Red Osier, 1945
40 Helen Levitt, Untitled 1972-74
41 Marie Cosindas, Sailors, Key West, 1966
42 William Eggleston, Memphis, c. 1971
43 Stephen Shore, Meeting Street, Charleston, South Carolina, 1975
44 Joel Meyerowitz, Untitled, 1976
45 Jan Groover, Untitled, 1977
46 Eve Sonneman, For Mike Goldberg, Samos, Greece, 1977
47 Tod Papageorge, Santa Fe, New Mexico, 1969
48 Henry Wessel Jr., Untitled, 1972
49 Robert Cumming, Academic Shading Exercise, 1974
50 Robert Adams, Burned and Clearcut, West of Arch Cape, Oregon, 1976
51 Robert Adams, Burned and Clearcut, West of Arch Cape, Oregon, 1976
52 Lee Friedlander, Switzerland, 1972
53 Lee Friedlander, Memphis Tennessee, 1973
54 Nicholas Nixon, Heather Brown Mcann, Mimi Brown, Bebe Brown Nixon, and Laurie Brown, New Canaan, Connecticut, 1975
55 Nicholas Nixon, Heather Brown Mcann, Mimi Brown, Bebe Brown Nixon, and Laurie Brown, Hartford, Connecticut, 1976
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