A beautiful new book from Aperture, Color Rush: American Color Photography from Stieglitz to Sherman, examines the history of color photography from its origins in 1907 and the unveiling of autochrome, the first commercially available color process, through 1981 and that year’s landmark exhibition and book The New Color Photography.
During the space of those 74 years, the list of renowned photographers whose careers were marked by their use of color is seemingly endless, including Alfred Stieglitz, Irving Penn, Walker Evans, Stephen Shore, Philip-Lorca diCorcia, Nan Goldin and Cindy Sherman, among many others whose work is featured in the book.
Making for a well-rounded depiction of the prevalence of color photography, the pages of Color Rush are also full of film stills, advertisements, newspaper clippings, fashion magazine shoots, spreads from National Geographic, and other mediums providing enough material to make any photography aficionado happy.
News about photographic film in the past several years has been grim, with previously popular film stocks discontinued, the death and resurrection of Polaroid film, the bankruptcy of Kodak, and various other threats to what was a cutting-edge art form as well as a ubiquitous way for people to capture moments from their daily lives. Color Rush makes a compelling visual case for preserving the tools of the past as photography moves strongly toward digital technologies.
This book’s release also coincides with the color-photography pioneer William Eggleston’s exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, in New York, on view now through July 28.
Nickolas Muray © Nickolas Muray Photo Archives. Courtesy George Eastman House, International Museum of Photography and Film, Rochester, NY. From Color Rush: American Color Photography from Stieglitz to Sherman (Aperture/Milwaukee Art Museum, 2013).
© Joel Meyerowitz. Courtesy Milwaukee Art Museum. Permission courtesy Edwynn Houk Gallery, New York. From Color Rush: American Color Photography from Stieglitz to Sherman (Aperture/Milwaukee Art Museum, 2013).
Left: © Barbara Kasten. Courtesy the artist and Bortolami, New York; Right: © Saul Leiter. Courtesy Howard Greenberg Gallery, New York. From Color Rush: American Color Photography from Stieglitz to Sherman (Aperture/Milwaukee Art Museum, 2013).
William Eggleston © Eggleston Artistic Trust. On view at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in “At War with the Obvious: Photographs by William Eggleston,” through July 28.
William Eggleston © Eggleston Artistic Trust. On view at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in “At War with the Obvious: Photographs by William Eggleston,” through July 28.
William Eggleston © Eggleston Artistic Trust. On view at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in “At War with the Obvious: Photographs by William Eggleston,” through July 28.
© Philip-Lorca diCorcia. Courtesy the artist and David Zwirner, New York. From Color Rush: American Color Photography from Stieglitz to Sherman (Aperture/Milwaukee Art Museum, 2013).
William Eggleston © Eggleston Artistic Trust. On view at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in “At War with the Obvious: Photographs by William Eggleston,” through July 28.
Nickolas Muray © Nickolas Muray Photo Archives. Courtesy George Eastman House, International Museum of Photography and Film, Rochester, NY. From Color Rush: American Color Photography from Stieglitz to Sherman (Aperture/Milwaukee Art Museum, 2013).
© Stephen Shore. Courtesy Milwaukee Art Museum. Permission courtesy 303 Gallery, New York. From Color Rush: American Color Photography from Stieglitz to Sherman (Aperture/Milwaukee Art Museum, 2013).
