obscured. Although there is no critical consensus
about postmodernism, as Solomon-Godeau points
out, ‘‘the properties of photographic imagery which
have made it a privileged medium in postmodern
art are precisely those which for generations art
photographers have been concerned to disavow’’.
(Solomon-Godeau 1984, 76) On the other hand,
impure photographers rejected the identification
of photography with mechanical reproduction
(and the subsequent denial of the original), prizing
unique prints or limited editions of their work. In
such a way, they aspired to the ‘‘aura’’ of the tradi-
tional, one-of-a-kind, and handmade work of art,
defending the tradition in which the uniqueness of
the process as well as the originality of the idea
makes each print unrepeatable.
Examining the aesthetic divisions of photogra-
phy that emerged in the 1980s, writer Susan Weiley
proposed that
the more accurate distinction lies between photogra-
phers whose work invites intimate viewing, as in a
book, and those who intend the work for a wall....
Work has shifted from the intimacy of being held in the
hand toward something that has to be seen on the wall,
at a distance. It’s a major difference.
(Weiley 1980, 149)
While this distinction is somewhat helpful in
sorting out the influential currents of the decade,
the personal and intimate was not restricted to
book formats or traditional small-scale black-
and-white photographs typical of 1950s icons
Harry Callahan or Robert Frank, nor was the
public and distanced to be found solely on gallery
and museum walls. Artists like Christian Boltanski
took an interest in the intimacy of the photograph
as a personal souvenir, producing both intimate
artists’ books as well as huge installations. In Bol-
tanski’s work, photography allows the creation of
a fictional past, demonstrating that our personal
identities are more and more structured by photo-
graphs, which tend finally to take the place of our
memories, as inMonument, 1987. The format in
which these photographs appear matter not as
much as the intimate manner in which the artist
presents them, often in grotto-like settings with the
illumination of bare light bulbs or even candles.
Others, such as Jeff Wall, using photograph’s fic-
tive abilities to ‘‘create’’ cultural and societal mem-
ories, relied on presentations associated with
public spheres, such as advertising light boxes,
while also successfully presenting these large-
scale, backlight transparencies in book form,
demonstrating the continuing, inherent flexibility
of the medium.
The photo-paintings that emerged at the begin-
ning of the 1980s and quickly became a favorite, if
not dominant form in contemporary art through
the end of the century originated with such artists
as Jeff Wall. Using references to the history of
paintings as well as to media imagery, Wall plays
off the historical presumptions about photographs
capturing or presenting reality while paradoxically
creating fictions and the thin lines that separate
these presumptions. Early works, such asThe Thin-
ker, 1986, based on Auguste Rodin’s famous
bronze, refer directly to great works in the history
of art. In later works Wall explored the literary and
filmic aspects in his art. The majority of his pieces
contain references to art history, the media, and
socio-economic problems, typical of postmodern-
ism, and putting forth the concept that recasting
tradition into contemporary visual culture may be
one of the true distinguishing features of the decade.
Robert Mapplethorpe’s work is also iconic 1980s
imagery and is emblematic of the fact that under-
ground, alternative, marginal, and marginalized cul-
tures were favored topics for photographers during
the decade. Mapplethorpe’s most notorious images
create a photo-document of the New York gay
scene. But like Cindy Sherman, he made a series of
self-portraits in which he appears disguised: as a
horned devil, drag queen, terrorist with a machine
gun, gangster, and so on. Although extremely perso-
nal and often shocking, his work has the stylishness
and finish of high-fashion photography, essentially
dehumanizing his models. Through quotations of
old master paintings and fine art photography of
historic figures such as Man Ray or George Platt
Lynes, he aestheticized often repellent subjects,
creating highly charged, seductive images whose
sheer beauty served as a foil for their unrestrained
sexuality. As Hal Foster put it:
new social forces—women, blacks, other ‘minorities,’
gay movements, ecological groups, students...have
made clear the unique importance of questions of gen-
der and sexual difference, race and the Third World...in
such a way that the concept of class, if it is to be retained
as such, must be articulated in relation to these new
terms.’’
(1983, 17)Nan Goldin’sThe Ballad of Sexual Dependency,
which examined the social milieu of those considered
outsiders, was one of the most influential photo-
graphic series of the 1980s. Often working within
the loose narrative structure of series of related
images, Goldin photographed intimate scenes of
her closest friends. Expressing a highly personal
viewpoint, Goldin also frequently featured a reli-HISTORY OF PHOTOGRAPHY: THE 1980S