Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley door pickup 10am - 7pm 3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
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  • Open Daily: 10am - 10pm
    Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm

    3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
    612-822-4611

Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm
3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611
Acting Out: Cabinet Cards and the Making of Modern Photography

Acting Out: Cabinet Cards and the Making of Modern Photography

Rohrbach, John
Pauwels, Erin
Salvesen, Britt

Hardcover

General PhotographyPhotography History & Criticism

Currently unavailable to order

ISBN10: 0520306686
ISBN13: 9780520306684
Publisher: Univ Of California Pr
Published: Jun 30 2020
Pages: 232
Weight: 3.60
Height: 1.00 Width: 10.00 Depth: 11.30
Language: English
Cabinet cards were America's main format for photographic portraiture throughout the last quarter of the nineteenth century. Standardized at 61/2 x 41/4 inches, they were just large enough to reveal extensive detail, leading to the incorporation of elaborate poses, backdrops, and props. Inexpensive and sold by the dozen, they transformed getting one's portrait made from a formal event taken up once or twice in a lifetime into a commonplace practice shared with friends.

The cards reinforced middle-class Americans' sense of family. They allowed people to show off their material achievements and comforts, and the best cards projected an informal immediacy that encouraged viewers to feel emotionally connected with those portrayed. The experience even led sitters to act out before the camera. By making photographs an easygoing fact of life, the cards forecast the snapshot and today's ubiquitous photo sharing.

Organized by senior curator John Rohrbach, Acting Out is the first ever in-depth examination of the cabinet card phenomena. Full-color plates include over 100 cards at full size, providing a highly entertaining collection of these early versions of the selfie and ultimately demonstrating how cabinet cards made photography modern.

Published in association with the Amon Carter Museum of American Art.

Exhibition dates:

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