From Shroud, by Simon Norfolk and Klaus Thymann
The Shroud on the Glacier du Rhône by Klaus Thymann and Simon Norfolk
Every so often I republish here texts which have been earlier seen elsewhere. This is mainly to make some attempt to group my stuff in one place. What follows is an introduction to a moving group of pictures on the death of a glacier in Switzerland. It is a version of the text which appeared online in Granta in April of 2020, republished with thanks to Granta for allowing it.
Robert Brownjohn. From the Street Level series, 1961.
Victoria & Albert Museum
One of the pleasing things about being interested in photographs is that it is really perfectly OK to admit to not knowing even important groups of pictures. In a narrower specialism, say in craft pottery or in modern literary fiction or in contemporary dance, it’s embarrassing to miss first-rate stuff. In photography you can even turn the whole argument around: far from being embarrassing to have missed something, it may be that to live only with those pictures that have good kudos in your particular neck of the photographic woods is to be limited, to lack curiosity and openness. Continue reading
Francis Hodgson 