The Impact of Personal and Cultural Bias on the Literature of Cameraless Photography: Difficulties in the Literature Search and the Librarian's Response

This paper focuses on the inherent difficulties in investigating
the history of cameraless photography (e.g. cliché verres).
These problems have a historical foundation in photography's
less than enthusiastic reception by the art world, and with the
photographic communities' refusal to accept cameraless processes
as a valid expression of the photographic medium. Since
photography was not viewed as a legitimate art form by the art
world establishment, it was excluded for many years from the
basic art research sources and bibliographies. In spite of a
long and distinguished tradition of cameraless photography, it
was not viewed as a valid photographic pursuit by some of the
powerful tastemakers in the photographic establishment in the
USA. This lack of encouragement had a profound impact on the
quantity of literature on cameraless photography in the USA,
which in turn led to a shortage of appropriate retrieval
terminologies in the art reference sources. The lack of a
comprehensive index to the journal literature of photography
also contributes to the difficulties for research in
photography, and research in cameraless processes in particular.
Art librarians must develop oustanding skills in their
profession to guide the arts researcher through such difficult
research topics. (Journal Abstract). (An earlier version of this
paper received the 1990 Gerd Muehsam Award of the ARLIS/NA).
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA


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