Moraliteit in het geding (A question of morality)

A response to Ton Hendriks' accusation in Perspektief Magazine
No. 35 that postmodern photography is immoral. ""Ton Hendriks
makes a distinction between what he refers to as the
'authenticity' of such social reportage photographers as Eugene
Smith and the 'immorality' of the 'reference-less photographic
image'', in other words, much that currently goes under the name
of 'postmodernism'.'' Gibbs criticizes the concept of
'authenticity' (with reference to the writings of Theodor
Adorno) and draws attention to the relation between Eugene Smith
and 'victim photography'. He defends postmodernism's questioning
of the truth content of visual representation (""The references
to reality that Hendriks longs for can no longer be defined...
Allegory has replaced symbolism''), and offers as examples the
work of such photographers as Conde & Beveridge, Jeff Wall, and
Yve Lomax. (Dutch/English)


Citaten:
Crimp, D.: Appropriation (1982)
Lyotard, :The Postmodernist Condition (1984)
Adorno, T.W.: The Jargon of Authenticity (1973)
Rosler, M.: 3 Works (1981)