Minor Photography
Connecting Deleuze and Guttari to Photography Theory
Mieke Bleyen (Editor),
The first book to apply the concept of the ‘minor’ to the theory of photography.
The notion of the minor, developed by Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari in Kafka, Towards a minor literature (1975), is introduced and connected applied here for the very first time to the field of photography theory. Deleuze and Guattari defined minor literature in terms of deterritorialization, politicization and collectivization. By transferring ‘the minor’ to the medium of photography, this book enlarges the idea of ‘the minor’ and opens it up to all kinds of mutations in the process. The essays gathered in this book discuss the ways in which photography can make the dominant codes of representation stammer and how it can produce new effects and address people yet to come. The authors consider ‘the minor’ as a valuable tool to help photography research move beyond, or in between, binary and hierarchized ways of thinking (of high and low art, for example, or centre and periphery). As such, it aims to contribute to a rethinking of photography as multiplicity and variation. Consequently, the term is connected with both marginal and canonical photographic practices, covering photographers as different as Miroslav Tichy, Paul McCarthy, Tacita Dean, Dan Graham, and Paul Nougé. After developing a theory of the minor, this book explores how the operations of the minor can be found in major art practices. It closes by tackling the question of photography as variation in case studies of belated forms of surrealist photography.
This publication is GPRC-labeled (Guaranteed Peer-Reviewed Content).
Acknowledgements
Introduction
Mieke Bleyen
Part 1 Towards a Theory of the Minor
1 From Stuttering and Stammering to the Diagram: Towards a Minor Art Practice?
Simon O’Sullivan
2 Tichy as a Maverick: Singular Figure of a Minor Photography?
Gilles Rouffineau
3 Always in the Middle: the Photographic Work of Marcel Marien.
A Minor Approach
Mieke Bleyen
Part 2 Major Artists – Minor Practice?
4 Fear of Reflections: The Photoworks of Paul McCarthy
Neil Matheson
5 Considering the Minor in the Literary and Photographic Works of Rodney Graham and Tacita Dean
Christa-Maria Lerm Hayes
6 Entertaining Conceptual Art: Dan Graham on Dean Martin
Eric C.H. de Bruyn
Part 3 Surrealism in Variation
7 Towards a Minor Surrealism: Paul Nouge and the Subversion of Images
Frédéric Thomas
8 Conceptual Art and Surrealism: an Exceptional, Belgian Liaison
Liesbeth Decan
9 Systematic Confusion and the Total Discredit of the World of Reality:Surrealism and Photography in Japan of the 1930s
Jelena Stojković
Notes on the Authors
Color Section
Frequently Asked Questions
What is "Minor Photography" about?
The first book to apply the concept of the ‘minor' to the theory of photography.
The notion of the minor, developed by Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari in Kafka, Towards a minor literature (1975), is introduced and connected applied here for the very first time to the field of photography theory. Deleuze and Guattari defined minor literature in terms of deterritorialization, politicization and collectivization. By transferring ‘the minor' to the medium of photography, this book enlarges the idea of ‘the minor' and opens it up to all kinds of mutations in the process. The essays gathered in this book discuss the ways in which photography can make the dominant codes of representation stammer and how it can produce new effects and address people yet to come. The authors consider ‘the minor' as a valuable tool to help photography research move beyond, or in between, binary and hierarchized ways of thinking (of high and low art, for example, or centre and periphery). As such, it aims to contribute to a rethinking of photography as multiplicity and variation. Consequently, the term is connected with both marginal and canonical photographic practices, covering photographers as different as Miroslav Tichy, Paul McCarthy, Tacita Dean, Dan Graham, and Paul Nougé. After developing a theory of the minor, this book explores how the operations of the minor can be found in major art practices. It closes by tackling the question of photography as variation in case studies of belated forms of surrealist photography.
This publication is GPRC-labeled (Guaranteed Peer-Reviewed Content).
Who edited "Minor Photography"?
"Minor Photography" was edited by Mieke Bleyen.
Mieke Bleyen is a postdoctoral researcher at the Lieven Gevaert Research Centre for Photography, Art and Visual Culture and the Institute for Cultural Studies at the KU Leuven.
Is "Minor Photography" part of a series?
Yes, "Minor Photography" is part of the "Lieven Gevaert Series" series. It's book 13 in the series.
The series covers four types of publications:
- outstanding monographic studies
- multi-authored volumes on a specific topic
- book length projects with artists
- translations and/or reprints of classic texts.
All books are published in English and are written for an international audience of scholars.
Format
All books in the series are published in 17*23 cm paperback with French flaps, printed in black and white on white maco paper and with a maximum page extent of 300 pages (120.000 words) including images (unless agreed otherwise).
Authors interested in publishing their book in Open Access can check out the funding options here. Open access books are published under a creative commons license.
Series editors
Hilde Van Gelder, KU Leuven
Alexander Streitberger, UCLouvain
Proposals
Proposals and enquiries can be sent to the series editors.
Please make use of the submission form to present the full manuscript to our board.
Authors interested in Open Access can consult the available funding options.
Links & Resources
What is the Table of Contents for "Minor Photography"?
Acknowledgements
Introduction
Mieke Bleyen
Part 1 Towards a Theory of the Minor
1 From Stuttering and Stammering to the Diagram: Towards a Minor Art Practice?
Simon O'Sullivan
2 Tichy as a Maverick: Singular Figure of a Minor Photography?
Gilles Rouffineau
3 Always in the Middle: the Photographic Work of Marcel Marien.
A Minor Approach
Mieke Bleyen
Part 2 Major Artists - Minor Practice?
4 Fear of Reflections: The Photoworks of Paul McCarthy
Neil Matheson
5 Considering the Minor in the Literary and Photographic Works of Rodney Graham and Tacita Dean
Christa-Maria Lerm Hayes
6 Entertaining Conceptual Art: Dan Graham on Dean Martin
Eric C.H. de Bruyn
Part 3 Surrealism in Variation
7 Towards a Minor Surrealism: Paul Nouge and the Subversion of Images
Frédéric Thomas
8 Conceptual Art and Surrealism: an Exceptional, Belgian Liaison
Liesbeth Decan
9 Systematic Confusion and the Total Discredit of the World of Reality:Surrealism and Photography in Japan of the 1930s
Jelena Stojković
Notes on the Authors
Color Section
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