"Where Did My Lens Cap Go?!? Or, the Persistence of Photodynamism in Representations of the Expanse of Time"

A presentation prepared for the University of Iowa’s 26th Annual Art History Graduate Student Symposium: Art in Transition

Abstract: Futurist’s tendencies in representation have been perceived by leading survey texts, such as Art Since 1900, as failed experiments. Yet, a century after Anton Bragaglia wrote Fotodinamismo Futurista, his manifesto of Futurist photography, concepts of Photodynamism continue to persist on the peripheries of contemporary art. This paper imagines the heritage of Photodynamism by examining contemporary photographs by Ralph Eugene Meatyard, Francesca Woodman, and Atta-Kim. Through this presentation I give a short history of the use of the instant image, then a synopsis of Bragaglia’s manifesto and work, and finally show how each of these contemporary photographers engage concepts of Photodynamism through long exposures in order to question the viewers’ experience of represented time.

published in University of Iowa's 2011 issue of Montage
PDF download available here