As part of the Parsons Department of Photography at The New School Lecture Series, writer and critic Luc Sante gave a talk at Aperture Gallery last November on his new book, Folk Photography: The American Real-Photo Postcard, 1905–1930, which was recently excerpted in Aperture magazine, Issue 196. The full version of this talk is now available to view on our multimedia page divided in two parts.

This clip below is an excerpt from the event where Luc Sante explains how he started collecting postcards thirty years ago. He then reads the introduction to his book going through the development of photo postcards with the dissemination of pocket cameras in the first half of the 20th century and the particular style of this non-academic American vernacular art.

To watch the full version, click on these links below:

Part 1, Part 2

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Aperture and the Parsons Department of Photography at The New School present an artist’s talk with writer and critic Luc Sante. Sante will present a reading and images from his upcoming book Folk Photography: The American Real-Photo Postcard, 1905–1930, which was recently excerpted in Aperture magazine, Issue 195. Sante wants to convey something about the transmission of ideas, about the inventiveness and self-reliance required by artists working in relative isolation, about the constraints and liberties of artists who were considered artisans or even service professionals, about the uncertainty as to whether their decisions were artistic choices rather than accidental or expedient, about the incursion of modern technology into lives far from any main stream.

Luc Sante: Parsons Lecture Series
Tuesday, November 17, 7:00 pm

FREE

Aperture Gallery
547 West 27th Street, 4th Floor
New York, New York
(212) 505-5555