Each Wild Idea

Batchen, Geoffrey

ISBN 10: 0262024861 / ISBN 13: 9780262024860

Published by MIT Press, 2001

VERY GOOD / DUST JACKET VERY GOOD. Former Library Book. 236 pages. Text is very clean. Usual library markings and stamps. Black board with silver lettering on the spine. Cover is lightly worn along the edges. DJ is rubbed with light staining. Binding and hinges are firm. Seller Inventory # 039543

Synopsis:

In Each Wild Idea, Geoffrey Batchen explores a wide range of photographic subjects, from the timing of the medium's invention to the various implications of cyberculture. Along the way, he reflects on contemporary art photography, the role of the vernacular in photography's history, and the Australianness of Australian photography.

The essays all focus on a consideration of specific photographs—from a humble combination of baby photos and bronzed booties to a masterwork by Alfred Stieglitz. Although Batchen views each photograph within the context of broader social and political forces, he also engages its own distinctive formal attributes. In short, he sees photography as something that is simultaneously material and cultural. In an effort to evoke the lived experience of history, he frequently relies on sheer description as the mode of analysis, insisting that we look right at—rather than beyond—the photograph being discussed. A constant theme throughout the book is the question of photography's past, present, and future identity.

Review: "Unruly, energetic, unmastered. Also erudite, engaged and rigorous. Batchen's essays have arrived at exactly the right moment, when we need their skepticism and imagination to clarify the blurry visual thinking of our contemporary cultures." - Ross Gibson, Creative Director, Australian Centre for the Moving Image"

Bibliographic Details

Title: Each Wild Idea
Publisher: MIT Press
Publication Date: 2001
Binding: Hardcover
Condition: Very Good
Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good