Photography in Boston: 1955-1985

Boston played a crucial role in the development of American photography, including criticism, collecting and curating, in the second half of the 20th century. This book accompanies a landmark exhibition at the DeCordova Museum that includes such important American artists as Berenice Abbott, Harry Callahan, Paul Caponigro, Marie Cosindas, Harold Edgerton, Nan Goldin, Jerome Liebling, Nicholas Nixon, Barbara Norfleet, Olivia Parker, Rosamond Purcell, Aaron Siskind and Minor White. The period from 1955 to 1985 reflects photography’s acceptance as an art form, the influence of modernism, and the coalescence of a unique constellation of educational institutions, museums and technological development in the Boston area that directly influenced artistic options for photography. Minor White’s arrival at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1965 to run the Centre for Creative Photography and the Polaroid Corporation’s innovative support of photographic art suggest how developments built upon one another to create a regional critical mass in photography. The book contains 25 colour plates, 60 duotones, and essays by A.D. Coleman, Rachel Rosenfield Lafo, Arno Rafael Minkkinen and Kim Sichel.