Staring into a mirror has also been associated with horror for many years. I guess any reproduction of humanity has a hideous edge to it.
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I'm glad that you've included a photograph by Clarence John Laughlin: "A Mangled Staircase (No. 2)". Laughlin (1905-85) spent most of his life around New Orleans and is well known for his haunting and surreal images of the South. One of my favorite photo books is "Haunter of Ruins: The Photography of Clarence John Laughlin (The Historical New Orleans Collection and John Lawrence, 1997). If you like the strange and surreal, you'll love this book.
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Wonderful article with extraordinary array of photos! I loved learning about the creations, intricacies, motivations and executions. Thank you!
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Photography has come a long way in terms of being accepted as fine art. But that being said, photographers have since the earliest days, approached their subjects with multiple aims. They could be journalism, showing events or people that told a real story about a subject of interest; creative so as to make people think and explore what the artist was trying to show, or fine art. It is the recognition by the arts community that along with painting, sculpture, and crafts, photography was part of the overall arts experience, as well as a powerful the storytelling experience that could influence the public and the elected.
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Oddities, eerie moments and the strange found among daily life seems to be a naturally lend itself to photography. Glad to know there is a hope for such a body of work at NOMA.
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I'm a Salvador Dali fan. I love his work. I saw an exhibition of his work at a gallery in Montmartre. It's mind bending and creepy. I love these photos too. Mind bending and creepy....in a good way.
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Thanks for this interesting glimpse. Intact or isolated collections always have a story to tell, apart from what is said about them.
Presented with a display of photographs, I like to look through the images first without reading anything about them. Then when I do read a related text or caption I am usually glad to gain another, well thought out point of view.
However, I am also appreciative of the superiority of the captured image over words written about them. It is as if the photograph were the eternal body, alive and alone; and the words were the clothing, providing context.
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