Wood, John. The Photographic Arts by John Wood.

University of Iowa, 1997. Hardcover with dust jacket, as new in original shrink wrap. [Wood, an excellent writer who penned other notable volumes on photography, here explores the Western American daguerreotype, the contemporary Autochrome, the art of cyanotype, European pictorialism, and American symbolism in photography. Keys: American West; Autochrome; Cyanotype; Symbolism; Pictorialism; Stieglitz; Jerry Spagnoli; Daguerrotypes; Fred Payne Clatworthy; Coburn; Edouard Hannon; Otto Scharf; Alexis Mazourine; Maurice Bucquet; John Braun Metoyer; Daguerre; Negre; Bayard; Marville; Petit; Houssin; Fixon; Nadar; Le Gray.] Issued at $69.95.  Summary:

The Photographic Arts (1997), written by photographic historian and poet John Wood and published by the University of Iowa Press, is a seminal collection of scholarly essays that shines a light on historically neglected, misunderstood, or niche movements in the evolution of early photography.

Rather than walking through a standard, chronological history of the medium, Wood uses a highly critical and penetrating eye to dissect specific artistic traditions, contrasting the actual historical realities of the eras against the mythologies that later emerged.

Key Thematic Areas and Essays

• The Western American Daguerreotype: Wood explores the rugged, early documentation of the American expansion. He uniquely juxtaposes the stark visual evidence of the daguerreotypes against the personal diaries and journals of gold field miners. Through this analysis, he delivers a piercing critique of "the American holocaust"—the systematic near-extermination and forced displacement of Indigenous peoples.

• Contemporary Daguerreotypy: Bridging the past and present, Wood turns his attention to modern artists who have revived the volatile, mirror-like 19th-century daguerreotype process. He examines how modern sensibilities transform a historic, rigid format into a vehicle for avant-garde, contemporary expression.

• The Art of the Cyanotype: Wood dedicates significant scholarship to the rich, Prussian-blue world of the cyanotype. He elevates it from its common historical reputation as a cheap, utilitarian proofing method or architectural "blueprint," arguing instead for its deliberate use as a highly sophisticated, atmospheric fine-art medium.

• The American Autochrome: The book analyzes the dreamlike, grainy texture of early color photography via the Autochrome Lumière process. Wood tracks how early American practitioners utilized its painterly, pointillist qualities to create romantic, vivid imagery that broke away from the clinical limits of black-and-white film.

• European Pictorialism & American Symbolism: Wood reevaluates the soft-focus, highly manipulated imagery of late 19th- and early 20th-century Pictorialism and Symbolism. He rehabilitates the reputations of several undeservedly obscure European masters, analyzing how these movements sought to prove photography's validity as a fine art by embedding deep allegory, myth, and psychological subtext into the frame.

Visual Production

True to Wood’s dual background in literature and art history, the book is beautifully produced to serve as a visual ledger for his arguments. It features over 100 full-page plate reproductions carefully calibrated to mirror the textures of the original processes, including color plates for the autochromes and rich, blue duotones for the cyanotypes.

Significance

The Photographic Arts is highly regarded in academic circles because it challenges the mainstream canon of photography history. By deliberately bypassing dominant mid-century straight photography narratives, John Wood successfully demonstrates that the true soul of the medium has often lived on its margins—in forgotten chemical experiments, romanticized color plates, and the raw, unvarnished visual truths of a changing world.