Malcolm, Janet. Diana & Nikon. Essays on the Aesthetic of Photography by Janet Malcolm.

Godine, 1980. 1st edition. Hardcover with purple cloth-covered boards. Essays, all but one of which previously appeared in the New Yorker magazine, include topics such as Alfred Stieglitz and the Photo-Secession, also his portraits of Georgia O'Keeffe; Edward Weston nudes and landscapes; Irving Penn photographs of cigarette and cigar butts; Garry Winogrand; Richard Avedon; John Szarkowski and the Museum of Modern Art; Nina Alexander and Herta Hilscher-Wittgenstein; William Eggleston; Bill Owens; Harry Callahan; Walker Evans and Robert Frank; and Chauncey Hare. Profusely illustrated with 82 images by the above photographers, as well as many others such as Russell Lee (of the FSA), Andre Kertesz, Joel Whitney, Mrs. Theodore Roosevelt, Lartigue, Van Der Zee, Nancy Rexroth, Diane Arbus, Eve Sonneman, et al. Fine with fine protected price-clipped dust jacket.  Summary:

Diana & Nikon: Essays on the Aesthetic of Photography (1980) is a seminal collection of eleven essays by acclaimed journalist and critic Janet Malcolm, most of which originally appeared in The New Yorker. The book is a foundational text in photography criticism, exploring the medium's complex relationship with reality, art history, and the shifting definitions of artistic expression.

Malcolm’s critical exploration focuses on several core themes:

• The Tension Between Art and Reality: Malcolm examines the fundamental paradox of photography—whether its primary value lies in its literal transcription of the world (the snapshot) or in its capacity for deliberate artistic artifice. The title itself serves as a metaphor for this duality, contrasting the cheap, unpredictable Diana plastic camera (celebrated for its raw, accidental realism) with the precision-engineered Nikon SLR (the tool of calculated professionalism and technical mastery).

• The Vanguard of the "Snapshot Aesthetic": A significant portion of the text analyzes the rise of the "snapshot aesthetic" championed by figures like Robert Frank, Garry Winogrand, William Eggleston, and Lee Friedlander. Malcolm delves into how these photographers subverted traditional notions of formal beauty by embracing ordinary, seemingly haphazard, and unposed moments of American life.

• Critique of Photographic Masters: The essays offer sharp, nuanced reassessments of legendary practitioners, evaluating Alfred Stieglitz’s quest to legitimize photography as fine art, Walker Evans’s rigorous and detached purism, Richard Avedon’s stark, psychological portraiture, and Harry Callahan’s formal experimentation.

Throughout the collection, Malcolm challenges the prevailing mid-century photographic canon, offering an incisive analysis of how a mechanical process earned its place within the world of high art while continuously grappling with its own democratic nature.