25 | 1988

CAMERA AUSTRIA No.25 is on hand and we are pleased to present our readers with another extensive and , hopefully, informative and thrilling issue. CAMERA AUSTRIA 25 completes the publication of the contributions to the Symposion on Photograph, “IMAGE : TEXT”, including articles by Victor Burgin and Peter Weiermair as well as works by Jochen Gerz and Allan Sekula shown at the exhibition under the title. Burgin, who is, as an artist and as a teacher at the Polytechnic of Central London, a pivotal figure in the discussion on photography in Britain, in his contributions  also refers this issue’s second point of emphasis: “KÖNIGREICH”(Kingdom) – Photographic Work in Great Britain. An exhibition under this title was shown in June 1987 at the Forum Stadtpark in Graz. At its core was the intention of show , besides the great documentary tradition in British photography, photographic work in the context of the fine arts, so as to make visible the wide scope of the debate in Britain.  An essential point of interest seems to be the fact that the political attitude of the artist is always being reflected in his work- not superficially in a pamphlet or propaganda sense but in the sense of the artists’s attitude spelling out the essential shape and language of his work . In contrast  to many other countries, in Britain there seems to be intimate relationship between theory and practice, a notable mutual inquiry. As a supplement to his emphasis on England we anticipate more contributions on British photography by Rob Powell and Karen Knorr in the next issue.

Concerining the publication of “KÖNIGREICH” we are indebted to British Council Vienna and Mr. Terry Sandell and to British Council London and Mrs. Brett Rogers for their personal engagement, for their financial and organizational assistance with the exhibition and the publication. Brett Rogers, through her thorough knowledge of the situation and her good rapport with the artists, has played an important part in this project. Working with you was indeed a pleasure!

We must (again) ask our readers to accept a small price raise: the annual subscription in Austria, starting with issue No. 25, will be öS 380,-; foreign subscribers will be asked to pay öS 470,- (DM 67,-). We hope the raise will be regarded as feasible and that it will not dim our readers’ enjoyment of CAMERA AUSTRIA. Along this line we also express our thanks to the book-sellers who have promoted CAMERA AUSTRIA for many years. This issue includes a list of all book stores stocking CAMERA AUSTRIA, and we ask our readers to make use of these important outlets, especially when promoting CAMERA AUSTRIA among friends and acquaintances. We are grateful to our readers who introduce CAMERA AUSTRIA to their book dealers. Posters, sample issues and other promotion materials are available at your request.

For CAMERA AUSTRIA No. 26 we war planning to publish the contributions to the Symposion on Photography IX, ZEITGENOSSENSCHAFT/ THE CONTREMPORARY, an event of the “styrian autumn ’87” , with articles and works by Pidder Auberger, Clegg & Guttmann, Walter Berger/Ona B. , Barbara Ess, Nan Goldin, Axel Hütte, Karen Knorr, Michaela Moscou, Rob Powell, Henk Tas and Wink van Kempen

Manfred Willmann, Christine Frisinghelli