by Jerry Saltz
First published 1989
Jerry Saltz moves through New York's gallery scene as contemporary photography breaks free from traditional boundaries. The critic encounters artists who blur the lines between documentation and invention, between straight photography and conceptual art. Saltz watches photographers abandon darkroom purity for digital manipulation, staged narratives, and appropriated images. Gallery owners debate whether these new works qualify as photography at all. Collectors hesitate to invest in prints that challenge every assumption about the medium. Saltz finds himself caught between defending photography's history and embracing its radical transformation. As he writes reviews and attends openings, he wrestles with questions that have no clear answers. The story captures his struggle to define art in a moment when definitions themselves become fluid.
Genres: art, contemporary, criticism, photography
Vibes: critical, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: fluid-definitions, transformation
Setting: New York
Period: Contemporary
80 pages · Paperback · Anderson Gallery