Jordan Bear – författare

The dominant visual language of European painting from the Renaissance to the nineteenth century, history paintings were formidable in their monumental scale, ambitious moral lessons, and intricate narratives. With the rise of modernist avant-gardes, the genre receded from the forefront of artistic production into the realm of nostalgia. Yet history painting cast a shadow that would subtly colour even the works that sought to displace it. Exploring the resilience of this distinctive mode of visual representation, What Was History Painting and What Is It Now? brings together an internationally distinguished group of scholars to trace the endurance, adaptation, and mutation of history painting. These studies offer a reexamination of the fortunes of the genre from North America to Europe and Africa. Organized around illuminating themes, the book explores the creation of an audience attuned to the genre''s didactic aims, the entry of history painting into the marketplace of commercial art and attractions, and the reimagination of the mode in response to the edicts of modern and contemporary art. Spanning the full range and diversity of history painting, this collection is a broad reconsideration of the tradition and the vibrant ways in which it resonates through the art of the present.

The dominant visual language of European painting from the Renaissance to the nineteenth century, history paintings were formidable in their monumental scale, ambitious moral lessons, and intricate narratives. With the rise of modernist avant-gardes, the genre receded from the forefront of artistic production into the realm of nostalgia. Yet history painting cast a shadow that would subtly colour even the works that sought to displace it. Exploring the resilience of this distinctive mode of visual representation, What Was History Painting and What Is It Now? brings together an internationally distinguished group of scholars to trace the endurance, adaptation, and mutation of history painting. These studies offer a reexamination of the fortunes of the genre from North America to Europe and Africa. Organized around illuminating themes, the book explores the creation of an audience attuned to the genre's didactic aims, the entry of history painting into the marketplace of commercial art and attractions, and the reimagination of the mode in response to the edicts of modern and contemporary art. Spanning the full range and diversity of history painting, this collection is a broad reconsideration of the tradition and the vibrant ways in which it resonates through the art of the present.

The before-and-after trope in photography has long paired images to represent change: whether affirmatively, as in the results of makeovers, social reforms or medical interventions, or negatively, in the destruction of the environment by the impacts of war or natural disasters. This interdisciplinary, multi-authored volume examines the central but almost unspoken position of before-and-after photography found in a wide range of contexts from the 19th century through to the present. Packed with case studies that explore the conceptual implications of these images, the book’s rich language of evidence, documentation and persuasion present both historical material and the work of practicing photographers who have deployed – and challenged – the conventions of the before-and-after pairing. Touching on issues including sexuality, race, environmental change and criminality, Before-and-After Photography examines major topics of current debate in the critique of photography in an accessible way to allow students and scholars to explore the rich conceptual issues around photography’s relationship with time andimagination.

The before-and-after trope in photography has long paired images to represent change: whether affirmatively, as in the results of makeovers, social reforms or medical interventions, or negatively, in the destruction of the environment by the impacts of war or natural disasters. This interdisciplinary, multi-authored volume examines the central but almost unspoken position of before-and-after photography found in a wide range of contexts from the 19th century through to the present. Packed with case studies that explore the conceptual implications of these images, the book’s rich language of evidence, documentation and persuasion present both historical material and the work of practicing photographers who have deployed – and challenged – the conventions of the before-and-after pairing. Touching on issues including sexuality, race, environmental change and criminality, Before-and-After Photography examines major topics of current debate in the critique of photography in an accessible way to allow students and scholars to explore the rich conceptual issues around photography’s relationship with time andimagination.

This is a volume of primary sources that speak to the relationship between photography and science in Victorian culture. As a product of experimentation, as a tool of scientific inquiry, and as a metaphor for conceptualizing the natural world, photography occupies a central position in the culture of the period. Photography was implicated in virtually every key scientific context of this era, and as such was also the subject of particularly lively and vigorous debate. Indeed, the primary source texts that attend to photography, in a wide range of scientific disciplines, constitute a remarkable, if often overwhelming, resource. The volume will guide readers by selecting and situating a group of texts that register the most significant of these debates in engaging ways. It will provide scholars working in a variety of fields–the history of science, literary studies, and art history, to name only a few–with access to overlooked but critical sources that can stimulate their own inquiries. Students will be immersed in the most vivid disputes of scientific culture, and will benefit from the skills developed by analyzing and situating primary sources.

This is a volume of primary sources that speak to the relationship between photography and science in Victorian culture. As a product of experimentation, as a tool of scientific inquiry, and as a metaphor for conceptualizing the natural world, photography occupies a central position in the culture of the period. Photography was implicated in virtually every key scientific context of this era, and as such was also the subject of particularly lively and vigorous debate. Indeed, the primary source texts that attend to photography, in a wide range of scientific disciplines, constitute a remarkable, if often overwhelming, resource. The volume will guide readers by selecting and situating a group of texts that register the most significant of these debates in engaging ways. It will provide scholars working in a variety of fields-the history of science, literary studies, and art history, to name only a few-with access to overlooked but critical sources that can stimulate their own inquiries. Students will be immersed in the most vivid disputes of scientific culture, and will benefit from the skills developed by analyzing and situating primary sources.

This is a volume of primary sources that speak to the relationship between photography and science in Victorian culture. As a product of experimentation, as a tool of scientific inquiry, and as a metaphor for conceptualizing the natural world, photography occupies a central position in the culture of the period. Photography was implicated in virtually every key scientific context of this era, and as such was also the subject of particularly lively and vigorous debate. Indeed, the primary source texts that attend to photography, in a wide range of scientific disciplines, constitute a remarkable, if often overwhelming, resource. The volume will guide readers by selecting and situating a group of texts that register the most significant of these debates in engaging ways. It will provide scholars working in a variety of fields-the history of science, literary studies, and art history, to name only a few-with access to overlooked but critical sources that can stimulate their own inquiries. Students will be immersed in the most vivid disputes of scientific culture, and will benefit from the skills developed by analyzing and situating primary sources.

The before-and-after trope in photography has long paired images to represent change: whether affirmatively, as in the results of makeovers, social reforms or medical interventions, or negatively, in the destruction of the environment by the impacts of war or natural disasters. This interdisciplinary, multi-authored volume examines the central but almost unspoken position of before-and-after photography found in a wide range of contexts from the 19th century through to the present. Packed with case studies that explore the conceptual implications of these images, the book’s rich language of evidence, documentation and persuasion present both historical material and the work of practicing photographers who have deployed – and challenged – the conventions of the before-and-after pairing. Touching on issues including sexuality, race, environmental change and criminality, Before-and-After Photography examines major topics of current debate in the critique of photography in an accessible way to allow students and scholars to explore the rich conceptual issues around photography’s relationship with time andimagination.