Author Description

When the world's Columbian Exposition opened in Chicago in 1893, photography was just over fifty years old and already a technology in transition. The use of dryplates had begun to simplify the photographic process, and Eastman Kodak's introduction of handheld cameras had begun to democratize the medium. The prevalence of photography at the Exposition further demonstrated this transition; not only were photographs used in innovate ways and on a scale never attempted at previous exhibitions, there were also competing uses of photography at the fair. Contesting Images reveals the intricately woven presence of photography at the Exposition. Exhibit by exhibit - including those of government agencies and departments of anthropology, social services, and education - Julie Brown shows how photography was becoming an important medium of communication. The special British Loan Collection featured preeminent photographers of the new pictorial art movement, while the most recent French developments in color photography and in criminal photography were on display. Key photographic manufacturers in the United States, including the Eastman Company, staged elaborate exhibits, and photographers such as James Landy, Julius Caesar Strauss, and Emma Farnsworth showed their work. What makes Brown's book unique, however, is its revelation of what went on not behind the shutters but behind the scenes - of the contests encountered in both the exhibiting and the making of photographs. The Exposition was a stage for the internal politics of both the official organizers and the photographers and manufacturers as they competed for their respective spaces. It also tells how the Exposition regulated photography for commercial consumption by licensing concessions and restricting the equipment used by professional and amateur photographers. The role that photography played at the World's Columbian Exposition opens up a new window on the dynamics that drove this event, providing an insider's view of how the fair worked for both exhibitors and spectators. Its insights will be of significance not only to historians of photography but also to anyone interested in the history of American popular culture.