Frederick Sommer: Photography at the Limits of the Avant-Garde Open Access
Barth, Catherine (Spring 2021)
Abstract
This dissertation offers a comprehensive account of the work of American photographer, Frederick Sommer (1905-1999). Looking closely at the works produced between 1939-1962, I argue that a defining quality of Sommer’s work is its commitment to effects of density, opacity, and complexity. My claim is that Sommer’s approach to density provides not only a new model of photographic expression but a new form of engagement and viewership, challenging and reanimating the normative terms of straight photography. Putting Sommer in dialogue with canonical modernist photographers Edward Weston, Ansel Adams, and Minor White, I aim to elucidate the competing paradigms of modern photography at mid-century. Through the detailed analysis of key photographic works, archival materials, and interviews with living artists, I aim to present a new approach to the study of mid-century photography, one that will have ramifications for the understanding of photographic history in the crucial period of the transition from modern to postmodern practices.
Table of Contents
Abstract ii
Acknowledgements iii
Table of Contents vii
List of Figures viii
Introduction 1
Chapter One 10
A New Process: Slow Revelation
Chapter Two 41
Looking Close: War-Era Works
Chapter Three 74
Competing Visions: Aperture and Collage
Chapter Four 117
The Reimagined Negative: Lens, Paper, Smoke, and Paint
Conclusion 147
Figures 153
Bibliography 192
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