Scissors, paper, stone : expressions of memory in contemporary photographic art

Finalist: Raymond Klibansky Book Prize Humanities and Social Sciences Federation of Canada (2008) Making a connection between photography and memory is almost automatic. Should it be? In Scissors, Paper, Stone Martha Langford explores the nature of memory and art. She challenges the conventional emphasis on the camera as a tool of perception by arguing that photographic works are products of the mind - picturing memory is, first and foremost, the expression of a mental process. Langford organizes the book around the conceit of the child's game scissors, paper, stone, using it to ground her discussion of the tensions between remembering and forgetting, the intersection of memory and imagination, and the relationship between memory and history. Scissors, Paper, Stone explores the great variety of photographic art produced by Canadian artists as expressions of memory. Their work, including images by Carl Beam, Carole Condé and Karl Beveridge, Donigan Cumming, Stan Denniston, Robert Houle, Robert Minden, Michael Snow, Diana Thorneycroft, Jeff Wall, and Jin-me Yoon, is presented as part of a rich interdisciplinary study of contemporary photography and how it has shaped modern memory. Pt. 1. Scissors -- Remembering And Forgetting -- Lives Of The Artists -- Reflections On Reflection -- A Forgotten Man -- Memory/false Memory -- Pt. 2. Paper -- Memory And Imagination -- Exchange Places -- Object-image-memory -- Persistent Paths -- Mimics -- Pt. 3. Stone -- Memory And History -- Agit-prompters -- Repossessions -- The Pictures That We Have -- Flashbulb Memories? -- Markers -- Conclusion : Is Photography An Art Of Memory? Martha Langford. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Content: Introduction : scissors, paper, stone -- Remembering and forgetting -- Lives of the artists -- Reflections on reflection -- A forgotten man -- Memory/false memory -- Memory and imagination -- Exchange places -- Object-image-memory -- Persistent paths -- Mimics -- Memory and history -- Agit-prompters -- Repossessions -- The pictures that we have -- Flashbulb memories? -- Markers -- Conclusion : is photography an art of memory? In this title Martha Langford explores the nature of memory and art. She challenges the conventional emphasis on the camera as a tool of perception, arguing that photographic works are products of the mind: picturing memory is first and foremost the expression of a mental process. She discusses the tensions between remembering and forgetting, the intersection of memory and imagination and the relationship between memory and history Making a connection between photography and memory is almost automatic. Should it be? In this book, the author explores the nature of memory and art