In this clip, writer and critic Luc Sante presents his latest book, Folk Photography: The American Real-Photo Postcard, 1905–1930, which was excerpted in Aperture magazine, Issue 196.
Sante reads two segments along with a slideshow of images, both taken from his book. Sante explains the development of real-photo postcards in the first half of the 20th century in small American towns. Practiced by both amateur and professional photographers, the crazed around these photo postcards was enhanced by the dissemination of pocket cameras. This non-academic art often dismissed by the history of photography inspired a generation of photographers such as Walker Evans and Dorothea Lange. A crucial mode of communications in isolate towns then, Sante explains how the meaning of these postcards has changed today, viewed as an archive of rural life at that time.
You can watch the second part of this event on our multimedia page and vimeo account.
This artist's talk took place on November 17, 2009 at Aperture Gallery and is presented by the Parsons Department of Photography at The New School.
