Revolutionary in their day, Group f.64 is perhaps the most famous movement in the history of photography, counting among its members Ansel Adams, Imogen Cunningham, Dorothea Lange, and Edward Weston. Strongly tied to the landscapes of the West, their influence extended far beyond the region, making an international contribution to the recognition of photography as a fine art.
The group -- first identifying themselves as such in a 1932 exhibition at the de Young Museum in San Francisco -- took their name, f.64, from the smallest aperture on a large-format camera. (That's their original logo from the exhibition invitation on the jacket.) This setting allowed for a great depth of field with wonderful sharpness, straight photography in reaction to the painterly Pictorialist style popular at the time. They wished to celebrate the unique possibilities of a still-young artistic medium, to honor what the camera could do -- how it might see even better than the human eye the contours of Adams' Yosemite Valley, or Weston's reclining nudes. The movement could only have happened amidst the landscape and attitude of openness on the West Coast -- and it was one of the first movements in modern art equally driven by the group's talented women.
Alinder is uniquely positioned to write the first group biography of these photographers. For many years an assistant to Ansel Adams, she co-wrote his autobiography, edited his letters, and wrote the definitive biography, too. She personally knew many of the other artists featured here, as well. Just as importantly, she knows and understands the art.
Complete with 50 black and white photos, reproduced with five-color printing -- including portraits the artists took of each other, as seen on the cover -- Group f.64 tells of a transformative period in art history in a fascinating narrative.
