Before Photography: Painting and the Invention of Photography

Peter Galassi argues in this book that photography was not a technical achievement without artistic roots; photography was born of the transformation in artistic outlook that, after centuries of experimentation, came to value pictures that seem to be caught by the eye rather than composed by the mind. Catalog for an exhibition at MoMA, NYC, in 1981. Includes work by Constable, Corot, Gustave Le Gray, Roger Fenton, Timothy O'Sullivan, and others. 152 pages including two gatefolds; 44 full-page reproductions of paintings and drawings, 9 in color and 38 full-page, photographic plates plus 38 text illustrations; 10 x 8.5 inches. Includes a bibliography and index to artists with brief biographical sketches.