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Ghosts of the Black Chamber

Experimental, Dada and Surrealist Photography 1918-1948

Photography is most often thought of as a way to document reality—to capture true-life experiences as they occur. But for the artists of the Dadaist and Surrealist movements, who placed the very question of reality and its perception at the center of their works, the camera’s lens functioned as a creative extension of the imagination—a third eye attuned to unconscious meaning—and the photograph was an index of signs that could be modified, simultaneously recording the everyday and exposing new meanings beneath its surface. Ghosts of the Black Chamber presents numerous examples of this fantastic vision in an illustrated directory of experimental photography from 1918 to1948.

Ghosts of the Black Chamber
presents over 200 photographic images by revolutionary and iconic artists of the time. In addition to the photographs, which exemplify not only Dadaism and Surrealism, but also lesser-known movements such as Futurism and Vorticism, the book also includes profiles of the fifty well-known artists featured, including Dali, Bellmer, Breton, Ernst, Magritte, and Man Ray. 

This comprehensive and stunning collection is both a wonderful introduction to the midcentury, experimental art and a must-have for fans of the Surrealists and Dadaists.


128 pages | 200 halftones | 8 1/2 x 8 1/2 | © 2010

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Art: Photography


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Table of Contents

Introduction

Eileen Agar
Gudrun Ahlberg
Josef Albers
Johannes Baader
Johannes Baargeld
Eugen Batz
Herbert Bayer
Hans Bellmer
Erwin Blumenfeld
Jacques-André Boiffard
Vane Bor
Pierre Boucher
Manuel Alvarez Bravo
Robert Bresson
André Breton
Jacqueline Breton
F-J Bruguiere
Janusz Maria Brzeski
Luis Bunuel
Jorge Caceres
Claude Cahun
Paul Citroen
Alvin Langdon Coburn
Salvador Dali
Marcel Duchamp
Ei-Kyu
Nusch Eluard
Paul Eluard
Max Ernst
Farfa
Siegfried Frank
Karl-Otto Gotz
Philippe Halsman
David Hare
Arthur Harfaux
Raoul Hausmann
John Heartfield
Maurice Heine
Jindrich Heisler
Albert Hennig
Hannah Hoch
Gina Hohensee
Georges Hugnet
Valentine Hugo
Josef Istler
Lajos Kassak
André Kertesz
Marcel Lefrancq
Herbert List
Eli Lotar
Gherasim Luca
George Platt Lynes
Dora Maar
René Margritte
Léo Malet
Maruja Mallo
Marcel Marien
E.L.T. Mesens
Lee Miller
Laszlo Moholy-Nagy
Suzanne Musard
Paul Nash
Paul Nouge
Vinicio Paladini
Roger Parry
Roland Penrose
Kazimierz Podsadecki
Man Ray
Marko Ristic
Christian Schad
Frederick Sommer
Ré Soupault
Jindrich Strysky
Maurice Tabard
Tato
Karel Teige
Franciszka Themerson
Raoul Ubac
Umbo
Lajos Vajda
Christian Van Geel
Nikola Vuco
Gérard Vulliamy
Wols
Wanda Wulz

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