Christian Peterson, author of After the Photo-Secession: American Pictorial Photography 1910-1955, has just published a 150-page volume examining the history of Pictorial Photographers of America, the most important organization of creative camera workers of their time, from its founding in 1916 until 1950. The PPA published handsome annuals, presented frequent photographic salons, and held regular instructional meetings at its New York headquarters.
Creative Continuum features nearly 60 full-page illustrations, printed in their full tones, by the accomplished photographers Paul L. Anderson, Edward R. Dickson, Laura Gilpin, Gertrude Käsebier, William E. Macnaughton (above cover image), Ira W. Martin, D. J. Ruzicka, Margaret Watkins, and many others. The book, a significant contribution to the history of photography and a visual delight for readers of all interests, also presents detailed biographies of 50 leading PPA members, many of whom are profiled nowhere else.
Author Christian A. Peterson is best known for his scholarly work on the pictorial photography movement. From 1980 to 2011 he served as a curator at the Minneapolis Institute of Art, where he organized many exhibitions and authored about twenty books and catalogs, including Alfred Stieglitz’s “Camera Notes”, and After the Photo-Secession: American Pictorial Photography, 1910-1955. He has written monographs on five pictorialists, among them William B. Post, Adolf Fassbender, and D. J. Ruzicka. His most recent publications are Pictorial Photographs from the Two Red Roses Foundation (2017) and Cosmic Trip: Rock Concerts at the Minneapolis Labor Temple, 1969-1970 (2018).
Based in Minneapolis, Peterson continues to research and write on the history of creative photography. His decades of expertise and insight are on full display in the present volume. This well-designed, hardcover publication has been printed in a limited edition of 150 copies, and is priced at US $75, plus $5 shipping. Creative Continuum is available only from the author, Christian A. Peterson. Contact him at petersonachristian@gmail.com, or send a check to 4241 Elliot Ave., Minneapolis, MN 55407. Congratulations and thank you to Christian Peterson on the publication of this beautiful new volume! (Cover image, above: William E. Macnaughton, A River in Connecticut, 1912)