The night albums: visibility and the ephemeral photograph

Abstract

Through a series of case studies spanning the history of photography, The Night Albums takes up the provocations of artists who collectively redefine how we experience visibility. From the protracted hesitancies of photography's origins, to conceptual and performative art that has emerged since the 1960s, and to the waves of technological experimentation of today, the author foregrounds artists who offer fleeting, hidden, conditional, and future modes of visibility. By unveiling how ephemerality shapes the photographic experience, she ultimately proposes an expanded framework for the medium.

Contents

Introduction -- Ephemerality, over time -- Ways of seeing and "live" photography : four case studies -- Future visibility -- Revised foundations -- Coda.