Title & Author:

Perpetual mirage : photographic narratives of the desert West / organized by May Castleberry ; with essays by May Castleberry and Martha A. Sandweiss ; John Chávez [and others].

Publication:

New York : Whitney Museum of American Art, [1996]
New York : Harry N. Abrams, [1996]
©1996

Description:

240 pages : illustrations (some color), maps ; 28 cm

Notes:
"Published on the occasion of the exhibition ... at the Whitney Museum of American Art, June 27-September 22, 1996"--Title page verso.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 229-234).
Dry light : photographic books and the arid west / Martha A. Sandweiss -- Prints vs. photographs, 1840-1860 / Ron Tyler -- Photography, railroads, and natural resources in the arid west : photographs by Alexander Gardner and A.J. Russell / Susan Danly -- Desolation, thy name is the Great Basin : Clarence King's 40th parallel geological explorations / William H. Goetzmann -- We are what we see : photography and the Wheeler Survey Party / William Kittredge -- Mesa Verde / Evan S. Connell -- The arcadian landscapes of Edward S. Curtis / William N. Goetzmann -- Mesa, canon and pueblo by Charles Fletcher Lummis / Kevin Starr -- A pleasant fellow in a not so pleasant place : J. Smeaton Chae and his trail of good nature / Patricia Nelson Limerick and Sharyn Wiley Yeoman.

Exhibitions:

Exhibition: "Perpetual Mirage : Photographic Narratives of the Desert West" at the Whitney Museum of American Art, June 27-September 22, 1996.

Summary:

The catalogue for an unprecedented exhibition opening in June 1996 at the Whitney Museum of American Art, Perpetual Mirage is the first fully illustrated history of the desert West and the first full-scale study of one of the most distinctive American publishing traditions - the photographic book. Since the mid-19th century, photographs of the American Southwest - its towering mountains, majestic canyons, and unusual wildlife - have been presented to the public primarily in books. These photographic books enabled the images to speak directly to the viewer. In the hands of the early photographic pioneers, the photograph functioned as a tool of scientific exploration, promoted commercial (and political) development of the West, and educated and thrilled people who would never visit the exotic and remote sites captured by the camera. In later years, the masterful photographs of artists such as Ansel Adams contributed to the definition of photography as an independent artistic medium. Even more important, these landscape photographers helped raise public consciousness about the region's fragility and its essential role in a vital, interlocking ecosystem. The photographic legacy of the American Southwest includes the magnificent survey albums of the mid-19th century, through which most Americans first saw the region's exotic plants, ancient cliff dwellings, and natural wonders; turn-of-the-century ethnographic reports, most notably, The North American Indian project of Edward S. Curtis; illustrated travel guides such as those by Edward Weston; books by Ansel Adams and Eliot Porter, which marshaled the environmental movement; and the photo-text documents of Dorothea Lange.

Resources:
Table of contents

ISBN:

0874271002
9780874271003
0810968207
9780810968202

Subject:

Weston, Edward, 1886-1958, artist.
Adams, Ansel, 1902-1984, artist.
Adams, Robert, 1937- artist.
Austin, Mary, 1954- artist.
Connor, Linda, 1944- artist.
Friedlander, Lee, artist.
Lange, Dorothea, artist.
O'Sullivan, Timothy H., 1840-1882, artist.
Weston, Edward, 1886-1958
O'Sullivan, Timothy H., 1840-1882
Lange, Dorothea
Friedlander, Lee
Connor, Linda, 1944-
Adams, Robert, 1937-
Adams, Ansel, 1902-1984
Illustrated books West (U.S.) Bibliography Exhibitions.
Deserts West (U.S.) Pictorial works Exhibitions.
Deserts
Illustrated books
Travel
West (U.S.) Pictorial works Exhibitions.
West (U.S.) Description and travel Exhibitions.
États-Unis (Ouest) Descriptions et voyages Expositions.
États-Unis (Ouest) Ouvrages illustrés Expositions.
West United States
Deserts West (U.S.) Pictorial works
West (U.S.) History
West (U.S.) History Pictorial works
West (U.S.) Pictorial works

Form/genre:

Catalog
Exhibition
Exhibition catalogs.
exhibition catalogs.
illustrated books.
catalogs (documents)
Illustrated works
Catalogs
Bibliographies
Exhibition, pictorial works
Catalogues d'exposition.
Ouvrages illustrés.
Catalogues.

Added entries:

Castleberry, May, contributor.
Sandweiss, Martha A., contributor.
Chávez, John, contributor.
Whitney Museum of American Art.

Holdings:

Location: Library main 320335
Call No.: 320335
Status: Available