Everyday Photography? Politicizing a ‘vernacular’ photo album of the San Francisco Earthquake and Fire of 1906
The San Francisco earthquake and fire of 1906, defined as the most-photographed event of the early twentieth century, overlaps with the beginnings of vernacular photography. Drawing on the vast output of the disaster, this article politicizes the notion of the vernacular. As art institutions have ch...
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| Publicado en: | URI:https://journals.openedition.org/interfaces, |
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| Formato: | Article ou chapitre numérique |
| Lenguaje: | Anglais |
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Interfaces
2020
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| Acceso en línea: | Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM |
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openedition-oai:revues.org:interfaces_1458 |
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openedition |
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openedition-oai:revues.org:interfaces_1458 https://doi.org/10.4000/interfaces.1458 urn:doi:10.4000/interfaces.1458 en https://journals.openedition.org/interfaces/1458 2020-12-19T01:00:00Z info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess article info:eu-repo/semantics/article urn:handle:20.500.13089/h4ho https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Everyday Photography? Politicizing a ‘vernacular’ photo album of the San Francisco Earthquake and Fire of 1906 Interfaces Université Bourgogne Europe info:eu-repo/semantics/reference/issn/2647-6754 info:eu-repo/semantics/reference/issn/1164-6225 URI:https://journals.openedition.org/interfaces Görgen, Carolin archives photographiques matérialité photographique tremblement de terre et incendie de San Francisco photographie à San Francisco photographie de catastrophe photographie amateur albums photo histoire de la Californie California Historical Society photographic archives photographic materiality San Francisco earthquake and fire photography in San Francisco disaster photography amateur photography photo albums history of California California Historical Society The San Francisco earthquake and fire of 1906, defined as the most-photographed event of the early twentieth century, overlaps with the beginnings of vernacular photography. Drawing on the vast output of the disaster, this article politicizes the notion of the vernacular. As art institutions have championed an aestheticized vernacular, many anonymous photographs have been stripped off their sociopolitical context. A host of related practices, such as amateur or club photography, have thus become marginalized. This perspective has reinforced a narrative of American photography ca. 1900 as either “vernacular” or “high art.” The heterogeneity of sources produced in San Francisco runs counter to this binary reading. They require a historiographical revision and a politicization of photo-collections. Exploring a personal photo album, this article retraces the visual, discursive, and material uses of “everyday” photography in extraordinary conditions. It points out how photo-practices were marked by extreme seismic events and domestic politics. The aim is two-fold: drawing attention to the complexity of archival materials and proposing a counter-narrative to the aestheticized vernacular. Le tremblement de terre et l’incendie de San Francisco en 1906, défini comme l’évènement le plus photographié du début du XXe siècle, coïncide avec les débuts de la photographie vernaculaire. En se basant sur la production engendrée par le désastre, cet article vise à politiser la notion du vernaculaire. Avec la mise en avant d’une esthétique vernaculaire, de nombreuses photographies anonymes ont été isolées du contexte sociopolitique. Tout un ensemble de pratiques, comme la photographie amateur ou collective, a ainsi été marginalisé. Cette perspective a renforcé une conceptualisation de la photographie américaine autour de 1900 comme étant soit « vernaculaire » soit « beaux-arts ». Le caractère hétérogène des sources produites à San Francisco contredit cette lecture binaire. Elles exigent une relecture historiographique et une politisation des collections photographiques. À partir d’un album photographique personnel, cet article retrace les usages visuels, discursifs et matériels de la photographie dite « de tous les jours » dans des conditions extraordinaires. Il montre comment les pratiques photographiques sont marquées par des séismes extrêmes et la politique locale. L’objectif sera à la fois d’attirer l’attention sur la complexité des matériaux dans les archives et de proposer une lecture qui évite l’esthétisation du vernaculaire. |
| collection |
OpenEdition Journal |
| language |
Anglais |
| format |
Article ou chapitre numérique |
| building |
0/Bibliothèque numérique/ 1/Bibliothèque numérique/OpenEdition Journals/ |
| topic |
archives photographiques matérialité photographique tremblement de terre et incendie de San Francisco photographie à San Francisco photographie de catastrophe photographie amateur albums photo histoire de la Californie California Historical Society photographic archives photographic materiality San Francisco earthquake and fire photography in San Francisco disaster photography amateur photography photo albums history of California California Historical Society |
| spellingShingle |
archives photographiques matérialité photographique tremblement de terre et incendie de San Francisco photographie à San Francisco photographie de catastrophe photographie amateur albums photo histoire de la Californie California Historical Society photographic archives photographic materiality San Francisco earthquake and fire photography in San Francisco disaster photography amateur photography photo albums history of California California Historical Society Görgen, Carolin Everyday Photography? Politicizing a ‘vernacular’ photo album of the San Francisco Earthquake and Fire of 1906 |
| description |
The San Francisco earthquake and fire of 1906, defined as the most-photographed event of the early twentieth century, overlaps with the beginnings of vernacular photography. Drawing on the vast output of the disaster, this article politicizes the notion of the vernacular. As art institutions have championed an aestheticized vernacular, many anonymous photographs have been stripped off their sociopolitical context. A host of related practices, such as amateur or club photography, have thus become marginalized. This perspective has reinforced a narrative of American photography ca. 1900 as either “vernacular” or “high art.” The heterogeneity of sources produced in San Francisco runs counter to this binary reading. They require a historiographical revision and a politicization of photo-collections. Exploring a personal photo album, this article retraces the visual, discursive, and material uses of “everyday” photography in extraordinary conditions. It points out how photo-practices were marked by extreme seismic events and domestic politics. The aim is two-fold: drawing attention to the complexity of archival materials and proposing a counter-narrative to the aestheticized vernacular. |
| author |
Görgen, Carolin |
| author_facet |
Görgen, Carolin |
| author_sort |
Görgen, Carolin |
| title |
Everyday Photography? Politicizing a ‘vernacular’ photo album of the San Francisco Earthquake and Fire of 1906 |
| title_short |
Everyday Photography? Politicizing a ‘vernacular’ photo album of the San Francisco Earthquake and Fire of 1906 |
| title_full |
Everyday Photography? Politicizing a ‘vernacular’ photo album of the San Francisco Earthquake and Fire of 1906 |
| title_fullStr |
Everyday Photography? Politicizing a ‘vernacular’ photo album of the San Francisco Earthquake and Fire of 1906 |
| title_full_unstemmed |
Everyday Photography? Politicizing a ‘vernacular’ photo album of the San Francisco Earthquake and Fire of 1906 |
| title_sort |
everyday photography? politicizing a ‘vernacular’ photo album of the san francisco earthquake and fire of 1906 |
| publisher |
Interfaces |
| publishDate |
2020 |
| container_title |
URI:https://journals.openedition.org/interfaces |
| url |
https://ezproxy.univ-orleans.fr/login?url=https://doi.org/10.4000/interfaces.1458 https://ezproxy.univ-orleans.fr/login?url=https://journals.openedition.org/interfaces/1458 |
| _version_ |
1877293782526853121 |