Sculpted by Light
Photography and Sculpture
Geraldine A. JohnsonHow photography and sculpture have transformed each other
This book explores the fascinating and often unexpected ways photography and sculpture have intersected over the past two centuries. It examines photographs of sculpture by Classical pioneers like Talbot and Daguerre, Modernists such as Steichen and Brâncuși – who were both captivated by light and shadow – and contemporary practitioners including Mapplethorpe and Goldin, who explore gender and identity. Photographers from Africa, Asia and Latin America also feature. Sculpted by Light reveals how photography generates new sculptural works – as when Brassaï transformed found objects into ‘involuntary sculptures’ – and how photographs can animate a statue or freeze a living body. Photographs, Geraldine A. Johnson argues, are also objects with sculptural qualities of their own. By approaching these two media from varied perspectives, this volume offers fresh insights into both.
Geraldine A. Johnson is Associate Professor in the History of Art at the University of Oxford and Fellow of Christ Church, Oxford. She is the editor of Art History Now: Objects, Concepts, Approaches (2026) and co-editor of Photo Archives and the Place of Photography (2025).