Paru le 18/02/2012 | Relié 310 pages
Tout public
with the collaboration of Yaniv Benhamou, Christophe Blaser, Charlotte Mailler, Pauline Martin
Since its invention in 1839, photography has been at the center of numerous controversies and sensational trials. The image was, in fact, found at the heart of ethical or purely legal battles, conducted in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. A symbol of freedom of expression and individual rights - but also of power and money - photography is recurrently confronted by authorities, censure, and manipulation. It has given rise to heated disputes in the fields of art, politics, science, journalism, fashion and advertising, which have often ended up in court. A majority of leading photographers have been dragged into legal procedures or controversies that have had an important impact on their careers. This book presents a wide selection of both famous and unknown photographs that have been the object of such litigation or controversy, from the beginnings of photography up to contemporary art. Together they offer a better understanding of the outlook that societies and cultures bring to the images of their time and a way of looking at current debates with a critical eye.
Daniel Girardin is an art historian and curator of the Musée de l'Elysée, a museum for photography in Lausanne, Switzerland. Curator of numerous exhibitions, he is the author of many works on photography, including Rodtchenko, la femme enjeu (Musée de l'Elysée, 1997), Ella Maillart. Sur les routes de l'Orient (Actes Sud, 2003) and Précepteur des Romanov : le destin russe de Pierre Gilliard (Actes Sud, 2005).
Christian Pirker is an attorney-at-law in Switzerland and graduated from the Ecole du Louvre in Paris. He practices business law and art law, regularly advising art market professionals and artists in fine arts and design, as well as in the audiovisual and new media fields. He has been part of the art market and the art scene as an expert and collector of contemporary art as well as photography. He also frequently wields the hammer in auctions since 2002.
