Author: Minor White ( Edited by Todd Cronan and Peter C. Bunnell)
Title: Memorable fancies
Published by: Princeton University Art Museum , 2024
I picked this book up out of interest. I knew Minor White as a photographer. Moreover, he was a photography critic, editor, and photography theoretic. Additionally, he contributed to the field through his insightful writings and editorial work.
The book is a summary of Minor White’s personal journals. He began them in the 1930s. They were edited by Todd Cronan and Peter C. Bunnell. It’s part diary, part photography theory manual, and part philosophical notebook. It gives readers an unusually intimate look into the mind of one of the most influential 20th-century photographers.
His photography is not exactly my cup of tea. However, I am always interested to see photography through different pairs of eyes. This book reveals White’s struggles with identity, spirituality, sexuality, and artistic purpose. These journals show how photography was for him a spiritual and psychological practice, not just a technical craft.
Not always easy to read as this is not an conventional diary or narrative biography. It jumps between ideas and topics,
I like to think of it less as a memoir. It’s more like a creative mind’s laboratory notebook. It’s messy, revealing, and historically important.
So, should you read it?
In my opinion, you should go for it if you are a student of photography. You should also consider it if you have an interest in the creative process, spirituality, and psychology.
Memorable Fancies is not an easy or conventional read, but it’s a major scholarly contribution. For historians of photography, artists, or readers interested in art theory and creative psychology.