Book Review: Transparencies
Stephen Shore. Image from Transparencies: Small Camera Works 1971–1979 (MACK, 2020). © Stephen Shore. Courtesy 303 Gallery, New York.
When looking at photography, there is often a language and voice that the image captures. It can be grandiose, complex, or delicate, and in Stephen Shore’s case, evoke the tone of vernacular language. Transparencies: Small Photography Works 1971-1979 is a book published by Mack that features never before seen 35 mm photographs taken by Shore in the 1970s. The cover sports the chrome barstools found at diners, and one foot displaying a rust colored cowboy boot. Although many photography books include a written forward, this one relies on the language of the photography to inform readers from the very first page. Britt Salvesen, curator at LACMA, quotes French photography historian Quentin Bajac in her afterword, explaining that these photographs “are as much to be read as to be looked at.”
Stephen Shore. Image from Transparencies: Small Camera Works 1971–1979 (MACK, 2020). © Stephen Shore. Courtesy 303 Gallery, New York.
Shore was interested in making photographs that represent the colloquial nature of every day speech, a genre labeled ‘vernacular photography.’ These photographs challenged preconceived notions of what subject matter to take seriously in the world of photography. Like a short exchange between small-town mothers at a general store, or words uttered between coworkers at a local auto shop, these pictures reveal the small, every day gestures and experiences of ordinary people.
Stephen Shore. Image from Transparencies: Small Camera Works 1971–1979 (MACK, 2020). © Stephen Shore. Courtesy 303 Gallery, New York.
From young families walking to get fried chicken, to diner meals, businessmen in tweed suits, and neighborhood liquor stores, these small photographs capture moments in the life of 1970s Americans the way a sentence from a realist novel would. Many images feature local businesses, such as boutiques, barbers, ice cream shops, and other establishments that remain the backbone of the American workforce. The photographs are both simple and direct, reaching for a universal translation that people can apply to their own lives. Although the photos are all similar in dimension, uniformly spread across the white pages, the subject matter could not be more varied. Shore’s photography refuses to settle on one specific image of vernacular. He attempts to provide a dynamic perspective that draws on multiple types of ‘ordinary.’
Stephen Shore. Image from Transparencies: Small Camera Works 1971–1979 (MACK, 2020). © Stephen Shore. Courtesy 303 Gallery, New York.
With nostalgic imagery and serene color tones, Transparencies is a worthwhile look into the work Shore produced during his road trips throughout America, and a 1970s landscape that feels closer to you with each page flip. Each image feels familiar, making the book an archival gem for American photography.
