Speaking With Hands

In October 1993, Henry M. Buhl purchased Alfred Stieglitz's photograph of Georgia O'Keeffe's hands. This photograph became the cornerstone of his private collection that now includes over 1,000 images by the medium's foremost practioners, as well as little-known and emerging artists. From a photogenic drawing negative made in 1840 by William Henry Fox Talbot to serial Polaroids made in 2002 by Cornelia Parker, the collection encompasses a wide range of photographic practices--scientific, journalistic, and fine art photography--with a strong component of contemporary art. Published on the occasion of a major exhibition at the Guggenheim Museum, these beautiful and poetic reproductions demonstrate the prevalence of the hand as a photographic theme; a result of photography's easy ability to capture fragments, details, and ephemeral movement. The images are discussed through topical texts: why hands are a unique theme (Jennifer Blessing), the prevalence of hands in Surrealist photogrpahs and prose (Kirsten A. Hoving), and the uncanny aspects of hands in contemporary art that uses photography (Ralph Rugoff). Containing work from 150 artists, this catalogue is both a visually stunning and haunting object, and a handy resource for the study of photography.