"Photographic History in the Spirit of Constructivism Reflections on Walter Benjamin's "Little History of Photography

The German art historian Herbert Molderings offers a lucid analysis of Walter Benjamin's seminal essay "Little History of Photography" (1931), including its reception. Although it represented the first critical study of photography in the German-speaking world, it was not until the mid-1960s that it made its mark, when it was embraced by the German New Left as a "manifesto" that reflected its own ideas. The essay offers a detailed account of the cultural and political background to Benjamin's essay and a critical analysis of Benjamin's own perception of photography, his inclusions and omissions, his socio-political standpoint, and his theoretical strategies

Constructivism (international relations · History of photography · Manifesto · Art, Politics, and Modernism · Photography and Visual Culture · Walter Benjamin Studies Compilation