Glamour subverts convention. Models, images, and even landscapes can skewordinary ways of seeing when viewed through the lens of photography, suggesting new worlds imbuedwith fantasy, mystery, sexuality, and tension.

InOld Fields, JohnStilgoeone of the most original observers of his timeoffers a poetic and controversialexploration of the generations-long effort to portray glamour. Fusing three forces incontemporary American cultureamateur photography after 1880, the rise of glamour and fantasy,and the often-mysterious quality of landscape photographsStilgoe provides awide-ranging yet concentrated take on the cultural legacy of our photographichistory.

Throug the medium of",shop theory",the techniques, tools, andpurpose-made equipment a maker uses to realize intentStilgoe looks at the role of EastmanKodak in shaping the ways photographers purchased cameras and films, while also mapping thedivisions that were created by European-made cameras. He then goes on to argue that with theproliferation of digital cameras, smart phones, and Instagram, young peoples lack ofknowledge about photographic technique is in direct correlation to their lack of knowledge of thehistory of glamour photography.

In his exploration of the rise of glamour and fantasy incontemporary American culture, Stilgoe offers a provocative and very personal look into his enduringfascination with, and the possibilities inherent in, creating ones own images.