Aperture No. 78. People and Ideas.

Aperture, 1977. From the brief period when Aperture magazine was issued only in hardcover.  Includes: Mike Disfarmer; Hilla and Bernd Becher; Joel Meyerowitz; Egypt; Francis Frith; J.B. Greene.; Felix Teynard; Maxime Du Camp; Paul Strand; Imogen Cunningham; Lisette Model, and more. VG+ with minor shelf wear. Summary:

Aperture No. 78 (1977), titled "People and Ideas," is a landmark issue that reflects the magazine’s shift toward a more analytical and curated approach to photography. It bridges the gap between 19th-century topographical exploration and 20th-century conceptual and street photography, examining how the "idea" behind a photograph is as vital as the subject itself.

The Great 19th-Century Survey of Egypt

A significant portion of this issue is dedicated to the early pioneers of travel and archaeological photography in Egypt. This section contrasts different 19th-century sensibilities:

• Francis Frith: Known for his epic, clear views that brought the colossal scale of the Pyramids and Sphinx to a captivated Victorian audience.

• Maxime Du Camp: Representing the French literary and documentary tradition, often including a human figure for scale.

• Felix Teynard & J.B. Greene: Noted for their more artistic, almost abstract use of light and shadow on ancient ruins, treating monuments as much as shapes as they did historical records.

Mid-Century Modernism and Portraits

The issue features a "Who's Who" of iconic 20th-century photographers, focusing on their unique approaches to the human form and social environment:

• Mike Disfarmer: The issue highlights the "rediscovered" vernacular portraits of this Heber Springs, Arkansas, studio photographer. His work is celebrated for its startlingly direct, unposed, and psychologically raw depictions of rural Americans.

• Imogen Cunningham & Lisette Model: The issue contrasts Cunningham’s refined, modernist compositions with Model’s "tough," unyielding street portraits of New York’s fringe characters, demonstrating the range of the female gaze in the mid-century.

• Paul Strand: Represented by his rigorous, formalist approach to both people and landscapes, where every element is part of a deliberate, socially conscious structure.

New Directions: The Bechers and Meyerowitz

Aperture 78 captures the transition into contemporary conceptualism and "New Color":

• Bernd and Hilla Becher: This issue features their "typologies" of industrial structures (water towers, blast furnaces). By presenting these functional buildings in grids, the Bechers moved photography into the realm of conceptual art, stripping away sentiment to focus on form and repetition.

• Joel Meyerowitz: Representing the cutting edge of the "Color Revolution" of the 1970s. The issue explores his move from 35mm street "snaps" to the large-format, luminous color work (such as Cape Light) that helped legitimize color photography in the fine art world.

Summary Takeaway

Aperture No. 78 is a masterclass in photographic lineage. By placing the rigid industrial typologies of the Bechers alongside the 19th-century ruins of Egypt and the stark portraits of Disfarmer, the issue argues that photography is a continuous evolution of how we map our world and ourselves. It is an essential volume for understanding the mid-1970s pivot from "pictorial" photography toward a more intellectual, structural, and color-driven medium.