Minor White: Memorable Fancies

(Paperback)

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The personal journals of one of postwar Americas most influential photographers published for the first time

One of the most significant unpublished texts in the history of photography, Memorable Fancies is the daybooks of Minor White, an artist who played a leading role in shaping the practice of photography in postwar America. Begun in the early 1930s and taking its name from a series of dialogues in William Blakes The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, these writings are part diary, part photography manual, and part aesthetic treatise. Minor White: Memorable Fancies presents this work in its entirety for the first time, offering an intimate look at the ideas and interior life of one of the most important photographers of the twentieth century.

In this beautifully illustrated volume, the art historian Todd Cronan sheds light on Whites guiding concerns and the intersections between Whites writings and his public practice as a photographer and influential publisher and teacher. Whites journal is accompanied by an array of stunning photographs by White and his contemporaries as well as annotations that provide background and context, illuminating Whites life and career while capturing a vibrant and inventive moment in the history of modern photography.

Challenging our assumptions about photographic agency and the interplay between art and life, Minor White: Memorable Fancies engages deeply with the possibilities of photography, its effect on viewers, and its relationship to chance observation.

Distributed for the Princeton University Art Museum

Author Bio

Minor White (19081976) was an American photographer, writer, educator, and cofounder of Aperture magazine. Todd Cronan is professor of art history at Emory University.