Comments on: The Genius of Photography

By: David

David — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 21:55:45 +0000

Thanks for providing the on-line links. This series, as any effort to embrace the larger history of a medium as rich and complex as that of photography, will not fully satisfy every viewer. I enjoyed it very much, but like other respondents, I do wonder why certain photographers have been shorted or omitted and others included. Among the women, Diane Arbus’s work and the photo-collages of Hannah H√∂ch could and should have been addressed more fully, and there is no discussion of Carrie Mae Weems, whose achievements surely trump those of relative newcomer, Greg Crewdson. Crewdson’s work consititues a tour-de-force of great appeal and raises interesting points about the nature of individual creativitiy and collaborative production, though he is by no means the first to do so. The resulting work, though marvelous in its patient way, is hardly as far-reaching in significance as that of Weems. I would have liked to see something meaningful about Aaron Siskind’s work and its relationship to Abstract Expresionism. And what of Eikoh Hosoe, Clarence John Laughlin, Lucas Samaras, Robert Mapplethorpe, Doug and Mike Starn, Sandy Skoglund, Adam Fuss, and Loretta Lux: are these “geniuses” of photography to be ignored, or are they to be dealt with in some future episode? Finally, to gloss-over Pictorialism as merely a “dead-end” demonstrates a lack of understanding of that movement within the larger context of Symbolist art and, moreover, fails to account for the movement’s impact on later art (especially in regards to the cinema). Despite these unfortunate short-comings, the series does provide a useful introduction to some of the key figures, technological developments, and issues of photography. Indeed, many viewers will find the series both thought-provoking and memorable. In short, it is well worth watching.

By: Steve

Steve — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 05:19:24 +0000

thanks so much for putting these up. just excellent stuff. really great, thanks again.

By: Eliseo

Eliseo — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 21:16:48 +0000

Extraordinary effort. Thank you very much for taking the time to upload this material. Nevertheless I have a question, at the begining of video number 6, only for a few moments, in the upper right corner there’s a sign: “subtitles”, do you know if these videos actually have subtitles. I would really appreciate you giving me this information.

By: Jane

Jane — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 03:46:12 +0000

oh, I forgot, I don’t know how but Nan Goldin was also featured in ep. 5

By: Jane

Jane — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 03:21:47 +0000

It was a little disappointing to see 97% male photographers represented in the doc. I watched ep. 4 and 5 and really enjoyed 5. Diane Arbus, Sally Mann, and Cindy Sherman are all in that episode. Interesting but I’m sure there are many more examples.. but it feels like they went with names most seen in popular art history books.

By: Liz

Liz — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 02:19:00 +0000

Thanks so much for posting these links! I’ve been trying to figure out where to see them online. I can’t wait to watch and be outraged by the lack of inclusion of women. ;-)