Abstract
Between 1933 and 1957, Black Mountain College reimagined photography not as a mechanical reproduction of the world but as an active, perceptual, and transformative artistic practice. Rejecting commercial slogans like Eastman Kodak’s “you press the button, we do the rest,” the college embraced photography as a tool for cultivating awareness and personal vision. Under the influential direction of Josef Albers (1933–1949), the arts program formed the backbone of the curriculum. Albers championed photography for its ability to reframe seeing—both with the eye and through the lens. For Albers and his students, the act of photographing was a means of engaging more deeply with the visible world, and the camera became an instrument of learning rather than simple documentation. In 1949, Hazel-Frieda Larsen became the college’s first full-time photography instructor, emphasizing intuitive training in light and perception over technical instrumentation like light meters. Photography at Black Mountain was not confined to a specialized domain but permeated the interdisciplinary culture of the college. It attracted and influenced a broad spectrum of students and faculty—such as Robert Rauschenberg, Cy Twombly, and Albers himself—who integrated photographic thinking into their broader practices. Visiting photographers including Harry Callahan, Barbara Morgan, Beaumont Newhall, Arthur Siegel, and Aaron Siskind further enriched this experimental environment. Ultimately, photography at Black Mountain College exemplified the school’s broader commitment to holistic education, in which artistic practice served to awaken individual perception and foster unexpected modes of self-development across disciplines.
Presenters
Siu Challons-LiptonExecutive Director and Professor of Art History, Department of Art, Design and Music, Queens Univeristy of Charlotte, North Carolina, United States
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
2025 Special Focus—From Democratic Aesthetics to Digital Culture
KEYWORDS
PHOTOGRAPHY, SEEING, HOLISTIC, EDUCATION, ARTS, EXPERIMENTAL, PERCEPTION, INTERDISCIPLINARY, INTUITIVE
