With CAMERA AUSTRIA no. 41 the  contributions to the 12th Symposium on Photography (theme: Public Images) is completed. The essence of that debate- which brought together under one theme representatives of contrasting positions i order to outline, in contributions of varied orientation, a thematic problem area rather than attempting to provide ready answers – not only characterizes the contents of this issue but also the overall program of CAMERA AUSTRIA. Another characteristic of the Symposium on Photography is the presentation of theoretical or historical contributions side by ice with contributions by artists who may provide texts to define the artistic context of their oeuvre: David Robbins is a case in point. Other artists- Rudolf Bonvie, for instance – prefer to confront the viewer only with their work. It will therefore be necessary to treat the various contributions as something may than illustrations or commentaries.

Among the contributors to this issue it is particularly Sally Stein and Anotnin Duefek who deal with the concept of publicity on a sociopolitical level: Sally Stein presents materials  from US publications in the thirties, investigating the use of photo-montage, a technique whose propagandist effects were a guiding principle in contemporary Europe and the USSR while the USA seemed to cling to an integral concept of photography. Her conclusions link the claim to privace and individuality to a use of images in which the margin  ad the frame take on metaphoric meaning. Antonin Dufek assumes a changing  claim to publicity in the post-communist era in the CSFR when he examines the covers of the Czech weekly “Mlady Svét” (Young World) for “new” images or evidences of social change. Werner Fenz discusses the concept of the public image in connection with an in publicity for our publicist and against the background of conceptual, sociocritical art forms in the seventies.

With an essay on architecture in the fifties by Sigrid Hauser and longer text on Andy Warhol’s social photography the editorial section of this issue brings additional material to the debate on the public image. Principally, CAMERA AUSTRIA also attempts to create publicity for our publicist and artists colleagues by reviewing books and exhibitions . This issue contains the over-due index for CAMERA AUSTRIA no. 29/1989 through no. 40/1992, facilitating research on topics dealt with in back issues.

The current issue completes the 1992 annual set. Issue no. 42 will be published in February 1993 with articles about Rudolf Schwarzkogler, Silke Grossmann and Brois Mihailov. Hoping that our readers will bear with us, we have decided that, after a four years’ break, it has come necessary to once more raise the subscription fee of CAMERA AUSTRIA.

Christine Frisinghelli