Creative Camera was a British photographic publication between 1968 and 2000. It was extremely influential at the time and remains an untapped resource for online access.
A few weeks ago I found the Golden Fleece- The Creative Camera Archive. Only the covers and contents page are available. I contacted the site owner to ask if they will be taking the digitisation any further, but sadly copyright restrictions limit any further progress.
I then got an ebay copy of “Creative Camera – Thirty years of writing” by David Brittain. This anthology of essays is a great read although I do stuggle with some of the content, art theory never being one of my strong points at Uni. David was a senior lecturer at Manchester Metropolitan University, now retired.
“Founded in 1968, “Creative Camera” has been a forum for influencing the shape and direction of modern photography. This anthology of 50 texts and their images includes moments from the debate. There are contributors such as Roland Barthes, John Berger, Victor Burgin, Jo Spence and Helen Chadwick. Through its 30 year history, “Creative Camera” has played its part in the changing fortunes of photography. In the 1980s opinions became polarized and the boundaries of “pure photography” were radically reformed. This was the era of “New Colour” and “Constructed Photography” in practice and the new art history, feminism and post-structuralism featured in critical approaches to photography. In the 1990s, photography has become a favoured tool among young artists. Debates about identity, the body, and the impact of digital technlogy are important features of the “post-theory years”. In particular, the ability of the new technology to stimulate photographic realism has revitalized the discussions about the relationship between photography, society, the media and “the real”.
I’m surprised that such an influential publication hasn’t been fully digitised and made available online. Surely there must be a full edition/collection in an educational establishment that could be made available? Anyone know of one?