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For the Camera

A new exhibition at Tate Modern explores how performance artists use photography – and how photography is a performance itself.
Black and white portrait of a young black man in bellbottoms and sunglasses

In and Out of the Studio

The Met has mounted its first-ever exhibition of West African photographs. But is the museum late to the party?

The Lives of Others

Stanley Wolukau-Wanambwa considers photobooks and representations of Africa.

"Conflict" at Krakow Photomonth 2015

Krakow Photomonth has grown from a rather rambunctious upstart into one of the most ambitious photography festivals. This year’s edition revolved elegantly around conflict.

Letters from Sally Mann On Process

Letters from Sally Mann to Melissa Harris, editor-in-chief of Aperture Foundation, about her portraits and her process, originally published as an interview in Aperture #138.

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.
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Aperture 254

This spring, Aperture presents “Counter Histories,” an issue produced in collaboration with Magnum Foundation and informed by their ongoing Counter Histories grant initiative, featuring artists from around the world who tell new stories about how the past informs the present.