Cotton Introduction

          Charlotte Cotton’s book, The Photograph as Contemporary Art, states “the art world embraces the photograph as never before” (7).  This is especially true for photographers like William Eggleston, Stephen Shore, Bernd and Hilla Becher, Malian Seydou Keita, and Ralph Eugene Meatyard.  Out of these artists I think that my favorite, just based on the small excerpts given, is Ralph Eugene.  I like ambiguity and the many meanings that come along with it.  The rest of Cotton’s introduction summarizes the chapters.  Chapter 4 and chapter 5 look as though they may be the most interesting for me.  Chapter 4 talks about images that in everyday life we would think are common and ordinary but the images have gained credibility because they were made into or called art by the photographers.  Chapter 5 has to do with the emotional and personal experience that one will gain while encountering the image.