Essays

Latest Stories

Sex Wars Revisited

An early platform for lesbian photography, On Our Backs was instrumental in shaping a culture of desire.

Beyond the Wall

Is the U.S.-Mexico border a political calculation or a humanitarian crisis?

Work, Politics, Survival

Jo Spence rejected categorizing labels of her work and practice and preferred to wander.

Our Bodies, Online

An emerging guard of young, female photographers carves out a new brand of feminism.

Beyond Binary

What does photography offer the trans feminism movement?

The Radical Power of the Black Feminine Gaze

Carrie Mae Weems’s feminist vision has never been more timely.

Midnight in Bamako

In search of the late Malick Sidibé and the rhythmic roots of his legendary photographs.

Listening for Eggleston

A profile of the pioneering artist and his passion for music.
Still from An Oversimplification of Her Beauty, 2012

Vision & Justice Online: 3 Reflections on Cinema and Archives

Catherine Gund, Shola Lynch, and Franklin Leonard discuss pioneers of cinema, African American archives, and the definitive films about black experience.

Vision & Justice Online: Nicole R. Fleetwood on Prison Portraits

In America’s sprawling correctional system, how do prisoners and their families represent themselves though photography?

Queer Photography: A Reflection

Vince Aletti recalls Tomorrow’s Man, Peter Hujar, James Dean, and the thrill of discovering queer pictures.

Vision & Justice: Around the Kitchen Table

Five voices from the fields of theater, photography, and art history to reflect on one of Carrie Mae Weems’s most iconic projects.

Adventure on the Danube

In 1958, Inge Morath set out to document the cultures of Central and Eastern Europe. Spanning four decades, her monumental project was the quest of a lifetime.

From the Outside In

In exploring the lives of others, what are the virtues of an outsider’s position?

Of Refugees and the Photograph

In conjunction with the recent “Odyssey” issue of Aperture magazine, Fred Ritchin examines photography of the refugee crisis.

Vision & Justice: Guest Editor’s Note

No matter the topic—beauty, family, politics, power—the quest for a legacy of photographic representation of African Americans has been about vision and justice.

Higher Ground

Vittorio Sella combined his passions of photography and mountaineering to capture the elevated beauty of the world’s most inhospitable places.

Open Roads & Invisible Borders

Since 2009, a photography collective has embarked on five road trips across West and Central Africa, creating a kaleidoscopic portrait of everyday life.
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Aperture No. 258

Aperture presents “Photography & Painting,” featuring artists from around the world who draw inspiration from both mediums in their work, illuminating how the dialogue between camera and canvas continues to unfold today in fascinating, unexpected ways.

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