As recreation and entertainment flourished in the 19th century, so too did the new medium of photography. Cameras became increasingly accessible to amateurs and were quickly deemed an indispensible part of what it meant to have fun. Acting as social commentators, many artists also turned their attention to the subject of pleasure and entertainment, often observing how photography itself has changed the way we spend our free time.
Photographers have turned to topics as diverse as Victorian billiard players, Parisian barflies, moviegoers, sightseers, and suburban sunbathers. The book features eighty-three photographs by such noted artists as Diane Arbus, Eugène Atget, Brassaï, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Walker Evans, André Kertész, Bill Owens, Man Ray, Edward Steichen, Joel Sternfeld, Alfred Stieglitz, Weegee, and Garry Winogrand—all of whom documented people at play. The illuminating introductory essay traces the relationship between the growing importance of leisure over the past 150 years and the part that photography has played in changing how we see ourselves.
About the Author
Erin C. Garcia is an independent curator in the San Francisco Bay area. She is the author of Man Ray in Paris (Getty Publications, 2011) and Photography and Fiction (Getty Publications, 2010).
Publication Information
Photography and Play
Erin C. Garcia
J. Paul Getty Museum
112 pages, 7 ¼ x 8 5/8 inches, hardcover
87 color illustrations
ISBN 978-1-60606-107-7
$24.95 [UK £16.95]
Publication Date: June 5, 2012