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The S.S. Copyright Project "On Photography"

A work made of silver diffusion prints (diptych, photocollages) with typed text panel.

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  • A work made of silver diffusion prints (diptych, photocollages) with typed text panel.

Date:

1978

Artist:

Robert Heinecken
American, 1931–2006

About this artwork

Here Robert Heinecken created portraits of the American writer Susan Sontag using images of pages from her widely read book On Photography and snapshots from his own everyday life. A few fragments in the collage have turned brown due to insufficient application of a protective coating that stops oxidation (a type of deterioration caused by oxygen). Indeed, the type of black-and-white Polaroid film Heinecken used here required the immediate application of a protective coating to prevent oxidation of the silver in the image. The photographer Ansel Adams, who tested products for the Polaroid company, noted that in downtown San Francisco, pollution caused uncoated prints to begin discoloring within an hour.

Status

Currently Off View

Department

Photography and Media

Artist

Robert Heinecken

Title

The S.S. Copyright Project "On Photography"

Place

United States (Artist's nationality:)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

Made 1978

Medium

Silver diffusion prints (diptych, photocollages) with typed text panel

Inscriptions

Signed and dated, lower right corner of panel 2, in staples

Dimensions

Image, each collage: 121.5 × 121.3 cm (47 7/8 × 47 13/16 in.); Text panel paper: 27.9 × 21.6 cm (11 × 8 9/16 in.)

Credit Line

Acquired through a grant from the Lloyd A. Fry Foundation; purchased with funds provided by of Sondra Berman Epstein, Reva and David Logan, and the Photography Circle

Reference Number

1991.292.1-3

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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