46 | 1994

The theoretical and artistic contributions to this issue- CAMERA AUSTRIA no.46 – place the debate about the medium of photography in a more general context, connecting it to various other disciplines: the criticism of ideology, the social and political relevance of architectural structures, the history of the “new media” , among others. The specific function of photography in these respective fields is made apparent in a variety of aspects reflecting the separate, or simultaneous, discourses.
In his article “Out of Austria”, Rolf Sachsse ames a close look at the work of Herbert Bayer during the thirties and forties, Bayers’s main creative period. As a successful graphic artists and exhibition designer, Bayer travelled “The Road to Victory”, whether at the Bauhaus, in National Socialist Germany or in democratic America. Rolf Sachsse equally questions the “independence of purpose” of good design and art criticism that preclude ideological criticism. Peter Weibel highlights the media as greater of world views in part I of his essay (part II will be published in CAMERA AUSTRIA no.49 in October 1994). This (cultural) history of the media is complemented by a selection of artistic projects, mostly produced at the Institut for New Media at the Städelschule in Frankfurt.
The title “Out of Austria” will  subsequently head a loose succession of articles that are to place the debate about photo historically relevant Austrian works in an international context, somewhat along the lines of our attempt in event years to present the photographic works of Gerhard Rühm,Kurt Talos or Rudolf Schwarzkogler, or of Peter Weibel’s “History of Artist’s Photography”  or Timm Starl’s “Notes on a Cultural History of Photography” series. In Austria, there seems to be a greater need than ever of such a “historical” focus, since particularly the historical approach to our field , in practical and theoretical terms, is next to non-existent in this country. The promotion of contemporary art production is thus lacking the necessary critical-analytical groundwork, a condition which- apart from the scandalous neglect of practically all collections in public possessions and the absence of media history in research and etching- affects the theoretical discourse on contemporary art.
For the past decade, David Goldblatt, a photographer from Johannesburg, has investigated architectural structures- mostly churches and homes- that visually represent the apartheid system, whose moral and ideological foundation was supplied by the Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa. His method is based on task-sharing and on the archival, and it combines the photographic medium with scientific procedures. His work is firmly footed in reality and avoids a symbolic concept of photography involving the transfer of the factual. We are greatly pleased that the relevance and necessity of David Goldblatt’s work can now be looked at against the background of real changes in his country!
Christine Frisinghelli