Charlotte Cotton (2015), an English art critic, writer and curator, has gathered together the work of over eighty artists who she believes are shaping contemporary photographic practice. Cotton is well known for her book The Photograph as Contemporary Art, now in its third edition. Photography is Magicincludes a short essay, written by Cotton, and is followed by over 400 pages of colour plates. Much of the photography has been made since 2010. Cotton begins the essay by drawing a connection between close-up magic and contemporary photography arguing that both relate to ‘something that happens in the viewer’s imagination’.
Cotton’s argument is shaped by three main ideas: that the constants of analogue practices are becoming variables; that there are many forms of camouflage being adopted in what might be called ‘postdisciplinary’ art practice; and that artists are channelling histories by making work that draws on defining movements in art such as Cubism and the avant-garde of the early twentieth century.
This book is of particular interest in the context of my project as it includes a focus on: making work that references analogue practices (such as double exposures); taking a photographic, painterly and sculptural attitude to practice; and drawing inspiration and making connections with artists and art movements, especially those that have explored colour abstraction.
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