Photography and Performance Art

Photography plays an important role in performance art. Whether it is the presence or lack of photography in a performance piece, it still affects the perception and the viewers. Photography is beneficial for artists to use when documenting their pieces, however, not all artists feel it is necessary. Earlier artists believed that the direct experience of the work was most important and did not feel the need for, in what they believed was, “commercializing” their work. It wasn’t until about the mid 20th century that artists really utilized and expanded the use of photography in performance art.

Personally, I think that photography can be very helpful to performance art, especially when the artist is not performing in front of an audience. It can really add something to the performance. It can capture any second in time. However, I believe it should be used when appropriate. Video can also be a very beneficial form of documenting a piece, and photography shouldn’t be the only option.

Vito Acconci and his documentation of one piece:
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A0DE2D71531F93AA35751C0A9679C8B63