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Subject, object, mimesis: the aesthetic world of the Bechers' photography

Contribution and context: The chapter contributes to a book of essays dealing with the aesthetic and theoretical challenges faced by the art historical analysis of photography after conceptualism. The book is the final product of a research project led by Professor Margaret Iversen and Dr Diarmuid Costello, and features the work of a range of established international academics, all leading experts in the field. Previously, the chapter appeared as an article in Art History.

Research imperatives and process: The argument and content of this chapter are thoroughly independent of James’ recent major book Common Ground. This chapter focuses on the aesthetic and philosophical bases of Bernd and Hilla Bechers’ photographic practice. The outcome of a year of postdoctoral research in collaboration with the Humboldt University and Max Planck Institute in Berlin, it examines the critical relationship between subjectivity and objecthood established in the Bechers’ photography. Building upon existing readings by Blake Stimson and Michael Fried, it argues that Theodor Adorno’s aesthetic thought, and especially his category of mimesis, offers a way in which both to frame the politics of the subject and object experiences in the Bechers’ photography, and to situate these culturally, contextualising their work within a critical juncture in German history.