Fotografia Publica: Photography in Print 1919-1939

From its inception, photography has been both a medium of documentation and of artistic creation. However, it did not acquire its standing as a large-scale reproducible and publishable art until the interwar period of this century, when the work of artists and publishers contributed to the creation of an international style. Photography, photomontage, and the photogram were techniques that established a new world of visual communication, a new world of modernity. Fotografia Publica: Photography in Print chronicles photographic works as they appeared in newspapers, magazines, books, posters, and other printed media, whether for recording events, artistic experimentation, or propaganda. The artists included form an international who's who of the 20s and 30s from the Russian Constructivists to the photographers of the American W.P.A. and F.S.A. Beautifully organized and designed, this book presents artist biographies, histories of the publications in which their creations were first published, and a detailed and informative essay by the Horacio Fernandez, curator

This handsome catalog documents an exhibit at Spainís Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia devoted to photography and the phenomenon of modernity. As the introductory essay by exhibit curator Fernandez explains, from its invention photography has been a public medium, yet technological advances during the interwar years allowed large-scale reproduction and publication. Arranged alphabetically from Berenice Abbott to Piet Zwart, including Russian constructivists as well as photographers of the American WPA and FSA, each entry discusses the role of a specific photographer, designer, publication, or one of the many influential countries. With appropriately aesthetic graphic design, the volume includes beautifully reproduced color and black-and-white images of newspapers, magazines, books, posters, and other printed material. It offers parallel texts in Spanish and English and is recommended for all appropriate collections with an interest in art photography.óJames E. Van Buskirk, San Francisco P.L. Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.