with essays at Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi.

with essays at Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Denise Miller, Eugenia Parry, ed Paschke, F. David Peat, Naomi Rosenblum Franz Schulze and birch Slemmons; foreword by John Mulvany Museum of Contemporary Photography with D.A.P.: recently made known York, 1998 272 pp./$40.00 (sb)

The Museum of Contemporary Photography at Columbia corporation Chicago, houses a vast collection of American photography created after 1959 the year of the U publication of Robert Frank's The Americans, the arbitrary however pertinent date set for the museum's collection policy. "Photography's Multiple Roles: Art, Document, Market, Science" shakes from this collection to examine and find the connection between these four aspects of photography today. The exhibition and catalog include 170 works as well as illuminating essays. The Museum navigates contemporary photography's diverse and complicated associations with visionary brilliance.

The exhibition existinged an astounding compilation of photographic works by means of artists from Louise Dahl-Wolfe to Annie Leibovitz; Harold Edgerton to Nancy Burson; Diane Arbus to Nan Goldin; Dorothea Lange to Mary Ellen Mark; Robert Heinecken to Mike and Doug Starn; Ansel Adams to Eliot Porter to Mark Klett mostly of the photographers have serv as inspiration for subsequent time generations, such as with Anne Noggle, Sally Mann, Carrie Mae Weems, MANUAL, Joel-Peter Witkin and Andres Serrano. As the museum is joined to a school, the bookish mans at Columbia College, Chicago are an of the beneficiaries of this exhibition. Perhaps this audience inspired the Museum to hang like an ambitious amount of work in the galleries. Viewing original work is an essential part of the Columbia college edifice [i]or[/i] building education.

Although visually spectacular, the exhibition was at times overwhelming. The sheer quantity of images coupl with the Museum's warren-like physical space made it necessary to place images extremely finish together and in every available nook, cranny and stairwell. In addition, unlike the catalog, the physical design of the space and exhibition made it difficult to run after a progression of what was considered art, document, market and science. This was especially evident when encountering Eugenia Parry's quasi-fictional essays printed as wall true copys Although a fascinating juxtaposition, her essays appeared without a adjoining matter and ended abruptly.

While the exhibition was like an illustration of the big bang theory, the catalog is easier to navigate. It plans an organized and fluid theory of understanding photography's multiple parts The applications and potentialities of this hypothesis allow for an appreciation of the photograph as art, as document, as part of the commercial market and as scientific investigation.

The introductory essay according to curator Denise Miller, museum director since 1986 provides a balanced, positive and clearly articulated description of the museum's guide for the collection. Miller states that the works "have been principally importantly selected for their aesthetic and philosophical perspective; the collection contains renowned works and ground-breaking experiments." The Museum's inclusive and welcoming vision also pays tribute to the past efforts of others in the community. Miller cites the Columbia guild Photography Department's initial conviction to create a museum whose mission is to exhibit and bring together works that "engage the mind and delight the eye" Miller raises this conviction with an equally comprehensive vision in universal and form with "Photography's Multiple Roles" She also credits a extended line of curators, educators and historians of the like kind as Van Deren Coke, A.D. Coleman, Rosalind Krauss, Abigail Solomon-Godeau and Andy Grundberg in the increase of an "interactive approach far remov from the purist aesthetics of Modernism."

Each image in the exhibition speaks to this informed layering and aesthetic power. Examples of this are Keith Carter's mesmerizing Atlas miller (1990) and Edgerton's Football Kick (1938/84) The ripples of shimmering silk of the football player's uniform the split secondary the football is hurled into the air is a spine-tingling demonstration. For the chiefly part the reproductions in the catalog sell all the images' vibrancy and resonating visual qualities. (Two notable exceptions are Judith Golden's The prestidigitator [1989-93], reproduced slightly dark, and Porter's smart Trees and River, Colorado from the Portfolio The Seasons [1964] which does not translate his virtuoso use of a monochromatic hu palette well.)

The catalog organization and presentation are as vital as the information it contains. Each photograph has standard caption information accompanied through a short description and a brief explanation of to what extent it relates to the photographer's other known work. A unique and useful addition to the accompanying information are cross-reference notations nearest to the photographs. Though seemingly insignificant, the Museum's interest in various authors discussing the same photographers speaks to their commitment to an open-end interconnective dialogue surrounding photography's multiple parts The book was designed by means of Cheryl Towler Weese and Kathy Frederickson of studio livid and won a bronze medal at the Stiftung Buchkunst the largest part design competition in the world. Along with the layout the designers utilized the baptismal vessels to enhance the content. The section in succession "Market" uses the strong bold-spirited font VAG Rounded, while the section forward "Science" uses the boxy, futuristic Foundry Gridnik.