AFTERNOON REGARD FOR PHOTOGRAPHY

Excerpts from Eli Siegel’s discussion of photography from the Aesthetic Realism point of view

From the book: “The question of emotion in photography is the question of emotion in art. One of the things I said years ago is that great poetry couldn’t come without a great beginning emotion. Therefore it is necessary to ask what is meant by ‘a great emotion.’

“Two photographs which have caused a great emotion [are] Brady’s The Ruins of Richmond (1865) and the other is The Steerage of Stieglitz. In the Brady, this mingling of pride and ruin—the standing up of the ruins and this gutting—does something to one….”

Paper $6.00