Charlotte Cotton Introduction Summary

Charlotte Cotton's introduction begins by explaining how the book is set up form start to finish. She says that the most important aspect of the book comments on how art photography exists today in contemporary art. She says that William Eggleston and Stephen Shore's exploration of colour photography over black and white is of extreme importance, and definitely shapes how photography remains today. Cotton also claims that Eggleston and Shore's commitment to making image-maing a more freeing experience in art photography has been particularly important. She also stresses that there is still a place for black and white photography such as in Bernd and Hila Becher's photographs of their grids of architectural structures. Conceptual and emotional elements are not celebrated and expressed in art photography, such as in Ralph Eugene Meatyard's series called The Family Album of Lucybelle. The incorporation of both old and new ideas and techniques have transformed contemporary photography into a more liberated and experimental field of art.