Arthur Tress: rambles, dreams, and shadows

Abstract

"This richly illustrated volume is the first critical look at the early career of Arthur Tress, a key proponent of magical realism and staged photography. Arthur Tress (b. 1940) is a singular figure in the landscape of postwar American photography. His seminal series, The Dream Collector, depicts Tress’s interests in dreams, nightmares, fantasies, and the unconscious and established him as one of the foremost proponents of magical realism at a time when few others were doing staged photography. This volume presents the first critical look at Tress’s early career, contextualizing the highly imaginative, fantastic work he became known for while also examining his other interrelated series: Appalachia: People and Places; Open Space in the Inner City; Shadow; and Theater of the Mind. James A. Ganz, Mazie M. Harris, and Paul Martineau plumb Tress’s work and archives, studying ephemera, personal correspondence, unpublished notes, diaries, contact sheets, and more to uncover how he went from earning his living as a social documentarian in Appalachia to producing surreal work of 'imaginative fiction.' This abundantly illustrated volume imparts a fuller understanding of Tress’s career and the New York photographic scene of the 1960s and 1970s."-- Provided by publisher.

Contents

Foreword / Timothy Potts -- Preface: The Photograph as Magical Image (1970) / Arthur Tress -- Arthur Tress, Dreams and Variations, 1968-1978 / James A. Ganz -- Crossroads: Arthur Tress in Appalachia / Mazie M. Harris -- Open Space in the Inner City / James A. Ganz -- Collecting Dreams / James A. Ganz -- The Enigma of the Shadow / Paul Martineau -- All the World's a Stage / Paul Martineau.