Essays

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Excerpt from Mary Ellen Mark on the Portrait and the Moment

In an excerpt from Mary Ellen Mark on the Portrait and the Moment, the photographer reflects on her favorite portraits and how her now-recognizable images came to be.

Lynne Tillman on Brush Fires in the Social Landscape

In this excerpt from Brush Fires in the Social Landscape, Lynne Tillman reflects on the work and life of David Wojnarowicz

On Robert Mapplethorpe's Polaroids

From Aperture magazine #163: critic and philosopher Arthur C. Danto (d. 2013) wrote “Instant Gratification: Robert Mapplethorpe’s Polaroids 1970-1976”

On Physique Magazine Photography

Alongside Aperture magazine #218, “Queer,” we look at this overlooked, often purposefully obscured, area of photographic history.

Cruising and Transcendence in the Photographs of Minor White

Writer and curator Kevin Moore on Aperture‘s founding editor Minor White’s convoluted relationship with photography and sexuality.

The Islamic State and Photography

A social media analyst working in private intelligence considers the Islamic State’s use of photography.

Vicki Goldberg: More History in Russian Photographs

Vicki Goldberg assesses the contemporary work of Vadim Guschchin and Nikolai Kulebyakin.

The Air for All: An Introduction to The Drone Primer

An excerpt from the Center for the Study of the Drone’s newly released Drone Primer.

Vicki Goldberg: Contemporary Ukrainian Photography

Vicki Goldberg considers the work of Ukrainian collective Shilo-Group.

Vicki Goldberg: Russian Photography Looks at the Past

Vicki Goldberg reports back from a 2013 trip to Russia, about an exhibition of Soviet propaganda.

Site Specific: Introduction by Christopher Phillips

An excerpt from Christopher Phillips’s introduction to Site Specific: Photographs by Olivo Barbieri.

Back In Black

Fred Ritchin files a dispatch from Les Rencontres d’Arles.

Sarah Charlesworth (1947–2013)

James Welling remembers fellow photographer Sarah Charlesworth.

Out of Nowhere: Photography in Cambodia

Leeza Ahmady and Erin Gleeson survey young Cambodian landscape photographers, via Creative Time Reports.

Mali's Era of Independence, in Photos

An essay on Malian photographer Adama Kouyaté, via Creative Time Reports.

On Travess Smalley's Capture Physical Presence

Lorenzo Durantini discusses Travess Smalley’s productive yet challenging relationship to photography.

Luigi Ghirri: Kodachrome

Luigi Ghirri’s short written exposé on his sources for inspiration. This essay was included in Aperture’s 2008 volume It’s Beautiful Here, Isn’t It.

Swiping at Pictures

Curator Christopher Y. Lew discusses our changing relationship to technology and to the Internet.
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Aperture No. 257

Aperture presents “Image Worlds to Come: Photography & AI,” a timely and urgent issue that explores how artificial intelligence is quickly transforming the field of photography and our broader culture of images.

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