Seeing and Not Believing: The Photography of Allan Chasanoff

Allan Chasanoff's postmodern photographs challenge the notion of photography as a truthful record of the real. This catalog is the first to survey his work, with an outline of his life and practice by artist Mónika Sziládi. Chasanoff's art highlights the fluid nature of the medium, using analog optical effects and on-screen tools to create a wide range of pictures that reference or appropriate the work of artists like Henri Matisse, Mark Rothko, or Giorgio Morandi.

Format: Hardback
Length: 236 pages
Publication date: 24 October 2023
Publisher: Yale University Press

Allan Chasanoff, a renowned photographer, delved into the realm of postmodernism, challenging the notion of photography as a mere representation of reality. Throughout his career spanning several decades, from the 1960s onwards, Chasanoff embarked on a daily photographic practice, creating an extensive body of work that pushed the boundaries of the medium and questioned its reliability as a truthful record of the world. Instead of seeking recognition within the art world, Chasanoff preferred to experiment independently, rarely exhibiting his photographs to a select circle of friends and collaborators. This comprehensive catalogue marks the first-ever survey of his captivating artistic journey.

Contributing to this catalogue is artist Mónika Sziládi, who had the privilege of working as an archivist for Chasanoff. Sziládi provides an insightful outline of Chasanoff's life and practice, tracing the evolution of his art from his early experiments with light, shadow, and color in his lens-shot photographs to his later exploration of 3D printing, which he regarded as the latest frontier in photography. Influenced by the ideas of Marshall McLuhan and Jacques Derrida, Chasanoff viewed photographic images as rich with multivalent symbolism, and his art highlights the fluid nature of the medium. Through the use of analog optical effects, such as blurring and other distortions, as well as on-screen tools for cutting and layering digital images, Chasanoff created a diverse range of pictures, some of which reference or appropriate the work of artists like Henri Matisse, Mark Rothko, or Giorgio Morandi.

Arranged into 7 thematic sections, Seeing and Not Believing presents nearly 200 plates, offering a broader audience a glimpse into Chasanoff's contribution to postmodern photography. The catalogue underscores how Chasanoff's work challenges our assumptions about believing what we see, prompting us to reevaluate our perception of reality and the role of photography in capturing it.

Distributed for the Yale University Art Gallery, this publication celebrates Allan Chasanoff's remarkable artistic legacy and his profound impact on the field of photography.

Dimension: 298 x 222 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780300273397