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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.

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.
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Aperture No. 259

Guest edited by Tanisha C. Ford, Liberated Threads explores style and fashion as a language of Black resistance, refusal, and joy. This issue features image-makers who remix and reimagine twentieth-century “soul style,” creating a contemporary dialogue between photographers, filmmakers, and stylists from around the world.

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