Bildgebende Fotografie; Fotografik—Lichtgrafik — Lichtmalerel; Ursprünge, Konzepte Und Specifika Einer Kunstform by Gottfried Jäger (review)

‘We must create on the same scale as we destroy.The counterforce to the scale of destruction is the scale of communication.” Science historian Morris Berman’s essay is a critical analysis of the argument that new technologies and media can be used to create the promised holistic antidote to the misuse of technologies. Berman states, “The new holistic paradigm is thus not really a substantive methodological shift from the scientific paradigm that preceded it. As in the case of its predecessor, it too is formal , abstract, ‘value-free’,and disembodied . Based on the computer rather than the clock (the model from Cartesian mechanism), cybernetic holism is in reality the last outpost of the mechanical world view.” He closeshis essaywith a pessimistic assessmentof the computer and telecommunications revolutions: “It is my guess, as Merleau-Pontysays, that we are sinkinginto a sleep from which, in the name of enlightenment itself, there will be no easy awakening.”The essays in this book are clear discussionsof the extremes and in-betweens of these positions. The book can be obtained from University Pressesof South Florida, 15NW 15th Street, Gainesville,FL 32603,U.S.A. BILDGEBENDE FOTOGRAFIE; LICHTGRAFIKLICHTMALEREL ; URSPRUNGE, KONZEPTE KUNSTFORM FOTOGRAFJKUND SPECIFIKAEINER by GottfriedJager. DuMont, Cologne, West Germany, 1988.375 pp., illus. Paper, DM 39.80. Reviewed by Frank Dietrich, Silicon GraphicsGmbH,Paul-Schalliick-Str.6,D5000 Cologne 41, West Germany. It is instructiveto read the German title of GottfriedJager’s book completely translated: Image-Generating Photography; Photo Graphics-Light Graphics-Light Painting; Origins, Concepts and Specificsof an Art Form.Jiger’s topic is the photography that generatesreality, in short, GenerativePhotography. His book deals with artistic alternativesto mainstream photography, which is comISBN : 37701-1860-X. monly used as ‘Abbils’,a straightforward representation of reality. Instead,Jager sympathizeswith all of those artistswho are not interested in following Daguerre’sintention of mechanicallycapturing the appearance of nature without the work of the artist . With such a potent adversarydominating the current understanding of what photography is and what it is supposed to do,Jager is well advised to spend his introduction clarifying the alternative, Generative Photography , as the purposeful act of the photographer that interrupts the quasiautomatic optical projection in order to create the inner truth between object and subject. How can this be achieved?Man Ray knew the secret well and recommended “to do what is prohibited”.Accordingly,for each technical refinement of photographic fidelity,artistsalwaysfind still another trick to break the rules. Impressionistic attempts to soften the sharpness of the photographic image were only the beginning in a long, alwaysreinvigorated human quest for creating rather than re-creatingwith this phenomenal imaging technology. The book has two main parts, one historical/conceptual, the other structural /technical. The first chapter is organized as a short history of Generative Photography. Here the works of major artistsillustrate how the underlying concepts unfolded through this century. With this structureJager is able to provide a frame of reference that allows the reader to understand photographic experiments in connection with artists and art movements. The concepts are placed in the context of the specificZeitgeist of each era. In this manner,Jiiger not only nicely bypasses the danger of indulging in purely theoretical abstraction and boring the more practicalminded reader but he also lays the foundation to proceed with the second chapter, which contains detailed information about every imaginable photographic technique. This second section, then, is the main focus of Jager’s efforts, a comprehensive handbook on every image-making/-breaking aspect of photography. Beautiful illustrations, 240 in black and white and 51 in color, cover the entire gamut of experimental photography, thus making the book valuable even for non-German-speakingreaders. Moreover, an extensive bibliography allows further research into the stilluncharted territory of photography as an art form. Finally, an index of copyrights and credits gives clues about collectors,agencies and galleries devoted to this art form. Jager knows what he is talking about from experience. For several decades he has been an accomplished experimenter with photography. He is active in variousprofessional associations and has staged numerous exhibitions .Jager also teaches photography at the Polytech Bielefeld, which explains the clear didactic structure of his book. In 1973he co-authored with Herbert W. Franke...