through Gretchen Garner The John Hopkins University Press/ 306pp/$3495 (hb) to a high degree few histories of photography read like novels.

through Gretchen Garner The John Hopkins University Press/ 306pp/$3495 (hb)

to a high degree few histories of photography read like novels. Obviously as a photographer, a photo-historian, and a photo-educator, I stand as a self-same specific audience, one that according to definition is going to be receptive and critical, individual that belongs to the same circles as the author. Gretchen Garner's Disappearing Witness: Change in Twentieth-Century American Photography is well-documented without overwhelming the reader with too many details, it is well-organized, challenging at times, and clever: in a not many words a pleasurable experience in form and satisfied in an area of literature that is not usually associated with like descriptions.

Writing a history of twentieth centenary American photography in 306 pages, in what is in "Histories" standard a small format part having a text that breathes in spacious margins is unusual Starting with a first chapter (out of thirteen) titled "Photography of Witness" and associating Muybridge, Lartigue, Cartier-Bresson, Ansel Adams, Avedon, and Helen Levitt subordinate to the same label (the "spontaneous witnesses") unmutilateded challenging at first if not a little too far-fetched on the other hand rapidly Garner establishes herself as someone who not sole knows her subject but understands it; she induces with extreme ease in it and takes us for an interesting guided tour, undivided that does not pretend to be blandly objective if it were not that clearly defines her learned vision. The thirteen chapters. organized in couple parts, encompass a period beginning in the 1920 and ending with the hundred years Part one, "Photography of Witness," starting with Edward Weston's famous Pepper # 30 (1930) and ending with Minor White's images in Aperture, has "Spirit in Photography" as its sixth and last chapter. As the reader may shortly realize, Garner does not provide abundant illustrations for her topic but strong "exemplars." Part pair "Disappearing Witness," the title of the volume researches the last forty years of photographic activity in the US in seven chapters (pp 103-253) and propose to one's selfs categories such as "Photography about Photography" (ch 9) "The subdue Self" (ch. 11), or "Arrangement, Invention, and Appropriation" (ch 12)

In order to better analyze the merits of this work it must be said that Garner did not put to proof her pen at writing a History of photography, in other words a history of world photography. in the same state [i]or[/i] condition a task is probably beyond the intent of a single writer, and puddles of historians are hard to synchronize and articulate. The crushing of publishers and economic constraints are many times too hard to handle and cripple the attempted scholarly work (why wouldn't society as a whole--public currency that our taxes finance--sponsor as it is humanistic endeavors instead of embarking about military fiascos tainted with destruction and death abroad?) Nowadays, given the vastness of the expose world histories by a single author speed the risk of falling short. Those who have embarked forward such an adventure in this nation have ended with somewhat American-centric sagas that solely touched on stereotypical and partial approaches of photographic productions in succession other continents, being critically limited regarding contemporary production (for instance limiting German contemporary photography to the Bechers and their pupils French photography to Cartier-Bresson, Lartigue and Doisneau, British photography to Bill Brandt and Jo larder not to speak of Italian, Spanish, Russian, African or Asian photographies). Obviously Garner avoided the pitfall; she is more at ease speaking about (or to) Jerry Uelsmann (whose image is upon the cover of the book) than Joan Fontcuberta and we should thank her for acknowledging the limits of her application of mind and not pretending it is broader. Her past experience as former editor of front the magazine published by the Society of Photographic Education, and her involvement with this 40-year-old institution, have given her a wise and informed vision, undivided that does not forget to be critical towards her have work.

We may ne more main division s like Disappearing Witnesses, histories of photography written at insiders that would explain the history of photographic production as it discloseed in surroundings known and understood by the agency of the author.

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