Michael Abramson, Perv’s House, Chicago, 1976. Gelatin silver print, 11 x 14 inches. Collection of the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art. Purchase, through a National Endowment for the Arts grant with matching gifts from museum members.
Focal Points: American Photography Since 1950
By the end of World War II, the photographic image had become ubiquitous in everyday American life. Photographs were commonplace in the tabloid press, for example, and in large-format news magazines like Look and Life, where they took precedence over text. The fine art photograph, however, as opposed to the commercial, scientific, or family photograph, was primarily an expression of the artist’s vision, not a simple record of an event.
