Machinology

I find the OOP video fascinating, but the Robert Frank section seems to dismiss the humanists too easily and in a way that is too much a part of the received narrative about Frank (which is in many ways a backlash to the “Family of Man” exhibit further solidified by Szarkowski’s curatorial choices at the MoMA). A “decisive moment” is more about the alignment of objects than about anthropocentrism, and Frank’s position might be as much about competing attitudes toward geometry and temporality as it is about a break from a humanist tradition. Eggleston’s place as an “object oriented photographer” is somewhat problematized by a preoccupation with colors and shapes that ultimately treats all objects (human or otherwise) with equal (dis)regard. In any case, I hope this doesn’t come across as too critical because I really enjoyed how this got me thinking. I definitely want to read more about OOO (and OOPh) and I look forward to seeing more work from Caplan.