New Photography USA by John Szarkowski.

London: Photographer's Gallery, 1972. Photographs by Diane Arbus, Paul Caponigro, Bruce Davidson, Lee Friedlander, George Krause, Ray Metzker, Joel Meyerowitz, Naomi Savage, Art Sinsabaugh, Jerry N. Uelsmann, and Garry Winogrand. Stapled wraps, 24 pages. Catalog for exhibit that also traveled subsequently in 1982 to Sheffield Polytechnic and Cambridge College of Arts and Technology. Includes short biographical summaries and checklist of 110 works. Very good with a couple of crimps along spine and slight wear at corners. Summary:

New Photography USA (1972) is a slim, influential exhibition catalog written by John Szarkowski and published by The Photographers' Gallery in London. It was produced to accompany a major touring exhibition organized by Szarkowski in his role as the Director of the Department of Photography at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York, which ran in London from March 29 to April 29, 1972.

The 24-page catalog serves as a vital cross-Atlantic bridge, introducing British and European audiences to the radical shifts occurring in American snapshot aesthetics, documentary practices, and darkroom experimentation during the late 1960s and early 1970s.

Core Themes & Content

• The New American Snapshot Aesthetic: Mirroring the philosophies Szarkowski championed at MoMA, the publication highlights a shift away from traditional, highly stylized landscapes and rigidly staged studio photography. Instead, it introduces a raw, immediate, and street-level look at American life, famously termed the "snapshot aesthetic."

• The Social Landscape: The text explores how a new generation of American photographers used the camera to examine the psychological and social realities of post-war America. Rather than capturing romanticized or epic imagery, these artists focused on the strange, the ordinary, and the occasionally unsettling friction of contemporary urban spaces.

• A Roster of Modern Masters: The publication acts as a curated portfolio showcasing 110 works by 11 defining figures of modern American photography. The featured artists include:

  • The Street Photographers: Diane Arbus, Lee Friedlander, Garry Winogrand, Bruce Davidson, and Joel Meyerowitz.

  • The Formalists and Manipulators: Paul Caponigro, Ray K. Metzker, Jerry Uelsmann, Naomi Savage, Art Sinsabaugh, and George Krause.

• Biographical and Checklist Documentation: In addition to Szarkowski's critical introductory framing, the catalog includes short biographical summaries of the eleven artists and a comprehensive checklist of the pieces featured in the traveling exhibition.

New Photography USA is a compact historical marker that captures the exact moment the American photographic avant-garde was institutionalized internationally. Through Szarkowski's curatorial lens, the catalog maps the transition of the camera from a tool of straightforward, pictorial documentation into a highly subjective weapon of personal, cultural, and psychological expression.