Posted by kluster on October 6, 2010
It’s a strange moment. The one where you, [insert ‘budding’ or ‘established’ here] photographer, realise that your craft has been frozen in a kind of pseudo time-warp since the 1970s.
We experienced that moment recently while flicking through Starburst – Colour photography in America 1970-1980 and it was a little unnerving. Sure, we’ve had our fair share of technological developments to work with: we’ve got phones that take shots as well as – and sometimes better than – a well-manipulated film SLR. And there’s the Keith-Loutit-esque, time-lapse miniature effect that utilises stills but presents them a video format - so, at the end of the day is it actually classifiable as photography? We’re not sure. But for the most part, aesthetically speaking, not much has changed since Ma & Pa picked up their manual camera and ran their first roll of colour film through its spool. We’re still trying to recapture that old aesthetic. The rising popularity of Lomography cameras speaks volumes on this issue.
The seventies in the USA was a decade that gave birth to a whimsical, gritty style of urbanity that was at no time more poignant than when captured by the lenses of the rising photographers of the day. Mitch Epstein, Steven Shore, Helen Levitt and Les Krims created an aesthetic that was to define the works of countless photographers in the decades that followed. And left many more chasing a dream of celluloid perfection they believed to have been created.
The works of the above-listed artists can be found forever immortalised in Starburst.
For those not amped about the prospect of owning a book containing some of the most interesting and thought provoking works created by photographers in the 1970s, fear not. Starburst also doubles as a drinking game. It’s called ‘Guess the Year’ and involves you randomly selecting photographs and asking guests to pick the year they were taken. Removal of the title-displaying dust jacket is recommended before the game is commenced. We’ll let you decide your own penalties.
Starburst – Colour photography in America 1970-1980 is published by Hatje Cantz.
photography, lomography, keith loutit, mitch epstein, steven shore, helen levitt, les krims