The History of Photography Remix

Kota Ezawa’s The History of Photography Remix presents a personal, aesthetic, and critical interpretation of the medium and its history. Inspired by a class on photography at Stanford University, Ezawa decided to create his own unofficial historical survey in the old-fashioned format of the art-historical slide show. He chose forty photographs from various sources and, through a process combining hand-tracing and computer manipulation, translated them into minimal yet evocative versions of the originals. Ezawa’s remix includes images that are both idiosyncratic and familiar. Some, such as Matthew Brady’s Harvest of Death (1863) and Edward Ruscha’s Parking Lot (1967), are commonly referenced in general art-history surveys. Others are drawn from the popular press, such as the widely circulated photograph of kidnapped newspaper heiress Patty Hearst brandishing a machine gun. Ezawa’s selection suggests the influence of television, film, and photography in shaping collective knowledge and memory. But the last slide, a portrait of the artist himself, points to the subjective nature of history. In the end, Ezawa’s remix might signify a generational shift in which historical narratives have become a “wikireality” to which any one can contribute.