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What is abstraction in photography?

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Costello, Diarmuid (2018) What is abstraction in photography? British Journal of Aesthetics, 58 (4). pp. 385-400. ayy037. doi:10.1093/aesthj/ayy037 ISSN 0007-0904.

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Official URL: https://doi.org/10.1093/aesthj/ayy037

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Abstract

There is confusion about what counts as abstraction in photography: art theorists class very different kinds of photographs as abstract, and common philosophical views of photography, if true, should cause us to doubt their very possibility. I address two questions here: ‘What is Abstraction?’ and ‘What is Abstraction in Photography?’ To the answer the second, I briefly consider a third: ‘What is Photography?’ so that the resulting account is not undermined by a poor theory of photography. In answer to my target question, I outline a schematic (and non-exhaustive) typology of kinds of work generically typed as ‘abstract’ in order to bring out some differences between them. I distinguish ‘proto’, ‘faux’, ‘constructed faux’, ‘weak’, ‘strong’, ‘constructed’ and ‘concrete’ abstraction, although the differences between them are not always clear-cut and there is room for debate about borderline cases. My goal is not to resolve all such cases, but to show: (i) that there is a range of broadly identifiable kinds of abstraction in photography; (ii) that images can be abstract in a variety of ways and for a variety of reasons; and (iii) why certain images are not abstract, despite being widely typed as such.

Item Type: Journal Article
Subjects: B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BH Aesthetics
T Technology > TR Photography
Divisions: Faculty of Social Sciences > Philosophy
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH): Photography, Abstract , Abstraction
Journal or Publication Title: British Journal of Aesthetics
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISSN: 0007-0904
Official Date: 13 October 2018
Dates:
DateEvent
13 October 2018Available
19 August 2018Accepted
Volume: 58
Number: 4
Page Range: pp. 385-400
Article Number: ayy037
DOI: 10.1093/aesthj/ayy037
Status: Peer Reviewed
Publication Status: Published
Reuse Statement (publisher, data, author rights): This is a pre-copyedited, author-produced version of an article accepted for publication in British Journal of Aesthetics following peer review. The version of record Diarmuid Costello; What is Abstraction in Photography?, The British Journal of Aesthetics, , ayy037, is available online at: https://doi.org/10.1093/aesthj/ayy037 i
Access rights to Published version: Restricted or Subscription Access
Copyright Holders: OUP
Date of first compliant deposit: 22 August 2018
Date of first compliant Open Access: 13 October 2020
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