Past′s Threshold – Essays on Photography
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Siegfried Kracauer was one of the foremost representatives of the Frankfurt School of critical theory, and his influence is felt in the work of many of the period's preeminent thinkers, including Theodor W. Adorno, who once claimed he owed more to Kracauer than any other intellectual. The Past's Threshold brings together for the first time Kracauer's essays on photography that he wrote between 1927 and 1933 as a journalist for the Frankfurter Zeitung, as well as an essay that appeared in the Magazine of Art after the eminent emigre's exile to America. The essays show Kracauer as a pioneering theorist of photography in addition to his more widely known work on film. A foreword by Philippe Despoix offers insights into Kracauer's theories and their historical context. Kracauer. Photographic Archive collects previously unpublished photography by Siegfried and Elisabeth, "Lili," Kracauer. While neither Kracauer nor his wife trained in photography, their portraits, city views, and landscapes evince impressive skill, while simultaneously shedding light on the Kracauers' close working relationship, from their marriage in Germany to their postwar years in the United States.
Siegfried Kracauer (1889-1966) was a sociologist, journalist, and film theorist. Philippe Despoix is professor in the Department of Comparative Literature at the University of Montreal. Maria Zinfert is a freelance writer and translator.