The Misleading Success of "Late Photography" in Contemporary Culture

Christie Dooley

In “Safety in Numbness: Some remarks on problems of 'Late Photography,'” David Campany contemplates the success of “late photography” (or as Peter Woolen calls it, “cool,” as opposed to "hot" photography) in contemporary visual culture. Though photojournalism as a genre seems to have lost prominence since the 1970s, Campany claims that photographers like, for example, Meyerowitz simply execute photojournalism in a new way. Instead of “freezing” a definitive moment of action (a role handed over to video), they deliberately “freeze” the already frozen “aftermath” of an event. This type of photography seems “pure,” withdrawn, and anonymous. But, as Campany points out, these “aftermath” images are often aestheticized (note Meyerowitz’s attention to form, light, and atmosphere) and inescapably melancholic. Furthermore, late photography finds a place in the contemporary art sphere (in galleries and photography magazines), isolated from actual news-breaking media (i.e., video). In fact, Campany finds the introduction of late photography in a video-dependent society especially problematic, since popular culture tends to endow the fixed image with a special, and perhaps constructed, significance.

In comparison to moving images or videos, the atmospheric (or sublime) force of Meyerowitz’ aftermath photograph The North Wall, October 26, 2011 promises condensed information and reliability. But, Campany proposes, how much does late photography actually tell us when it offers this after-the-fact perspective of an event? Does it tell us anything a video cannot? What does it conceal from us? Campany suggests late photography is quite misleading. A scene of destruction, for example, creates a single “aestheticized response” without providing any political conversations.  According to Campany, the formal elements and emotional appeal of late photography falsely claim superiority over other media. But in our contemporary visual culture, are action shots distinguishable from video stills any more? What type of photography possesses the real “significance” Campany is looking for, if any at all?