Promotions - Choice's Outstanding Academic Titles 2020 -

Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (1832-98), commonly known as Lewis Carroll, took up photography in the 1850s, when it was considered one of the four or five most important inventions ushering in the "modern age." Photography was also a fashionable hobby among the British professional class to which Carroll belonged, and he continued to make amateur photographs--mostly portraits and costume portraits of children--for almost 30 years. Among these were a few nude portraits of young girls, and these have always troubled critics of Carroll's work. There exists a large and contradictory body of critical writing on Carroll's literary and photographic practices, and Waggoner (curator of 19th-century photographs, National Gallery of Art) addresses this in her thoroughly researched, carefully written description of Carroll's photographic production. She discusses his complete work in the context of the events of his own life and activities, of the practices of his fellow photographers, and of the art practices of his day. Waggoner accurately places Carroll's work in social and historical context, and her thesis is reasoned, reasonable, and convincing--at least to this reviewer. The ultimate question of just why Carroll photographed what he photographed is intriguing and not completely answered, nor can it be explained in a brief review. But Waggoner's treatment of it is fascinating.Summing Up: Essential. Lower-division undergraduates through faculty; professionals; general readers.

Joining Photography on the Color Line (CH, Nov'04, 42-1372) and At the End of Sight (CH, May'14, 51-4842), among other works, this is Smith's seventh and perhaps most impactful book to date. In it Smith (visual and critical studies, School of the Art Institute of Chicago) expands her deep dive into how the history of race and visual culture are woven into contemporary photographic practice. She traces racial crisis, resistance, and transformation in the US by examining an array of artists whose practices share concerns but vary widely. Lorna Simpson, Carrie Mae Weems, Taryn Simon, Rashid Johnson, Sally Mann, Deborah Luster, Jason Lazarus, and Dawoud Bey all put the past on a collision course with a present that ultimately will write the future. Their work addresses racial discrimination and injustice, is often though not necessarily political, and relies on the slippery temporality of photography. Seen through their photographic eyes, racial historical events resurface to inspire, challenge, provoke, and provide metaphoric opportunities that reveal and expand conversations in an attempt to energize the social justice movement in the US. A much-needed addition to the literature on the pressing subject of race, representation, and photography, the book includes extensive and informative notes for each chapter and a 16-page insert of color plates.Summing Up: Highly recommended. Lower- and upper-division undergraduates through faculty; professionals; general readers.