GRIFFITH (Bronwyn A. E.), ed. - Lot 121

GRIFFITH (Bronwyn A. E.), ed. The Ambassadors of Progress: American Women Photographers in Paris, 1900–1901. Paris, Adam Biro / Musée d’Art Américain de Giverny, 2001. Large quarto, publisher’s hardcover with illustrated dust jacket. An important catalog published in conjunction with the exhibition dedicated to the participation of American women photographers in the International Congress of Photography held during the 1900 Paris World’s Fair. This volume sheds light on a seminal episode in the history of photography, when more than thirty American women photographers were presented as representatives of the United States’ technical and artistic modernity. Edited by Bronwyn A. E. Griffith, with contributions from Verna Posever Curtis, Laura Ilise Meister, Michel Poivert, and Andrew Robb, the catalog places this event within its political, social, and cultural context. It shows how these pioneers helped establish photography as a profession open to women and a fully-fledged means of artistic expression. The book features a rich collection of photographs and historical documents, including works by Frances Benjamin Johnston, Gertrude Käsebier, Mary Devens, Eva Watson-Schütze, Alice Boughton, Zaida Ben-Yusuf, Anne Brigman, and many other photographers now regarded as major figures in American Pictorialism. The essays also explore the relationships between photography, feminism, World’s Fairs, and the cultural assertion of the United States at the turn of the 20th century. A definitive publication on a long-neglected subject, combining historical research, abundant iconography, and excellent reproduction quality. Very good copy, with the original illustrated dust jacket intact.