{"product_id":"elevate-the-masses-9780271086095","title":"Elevate the Masses","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eExamines the work of the photographer Alexander Gardner and explores transatlantic dialogues in American Civil War–era photography, demonstrating the concern over issues such as photography as a documentary form, the meaning of democracy, and the impact of industrialization on labor and social relations.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e“\u003ci\u003eElevate the Masses\u003c\/i\u003e takes a fresh look at the career of Alexander Gardner by focusing on his social and photographic work in his home country of Scotland and situating that work in a transatlantic discourse on political rights and reform. The book’s reconsideration of Gardner's photographs in the context of the US Civil War promises to shift how scholars think about this well-studied area of photography's history.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e—Tanya Sheehan,author of \u003ci\u003eStudy in Black and White: Photography, Race, Humor\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Alexander Gardner's pathbreaking photography developed from long-term commitments to democracy and social reform, mixed with shrewd enterprise. Makeda Best's transatlantic biographical frame shapes stimulating readings of enduring images.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e—Thomas J. Brown,author of \u003ci\u003eCivil War Monuments and the Militarization of America\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Drawing on Gardner’s artisan and immigrant identities and his writing in the Glasgow newspaper he owned, Best connects the photographer's sociopolitical views to Chartism and other European reform movements. Using this international perspective, she provides fresh insight into Gardner's Civil War photographs, which have been read mostly as American expression and commercial opportunism. Best draws meaningful parallels between the communicative role and strategies of progressive newspapers and those of Gardner’s paper-based photography, and she repositions his best-known work, Photographic Sketch Book of the War (1866; republished, 1959), as a political project and innovative visual form.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e—A. Luxenberg \u003ci\u003eChoice\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Through Best’s deliberate and revelatory analysis, Gardner’s belief in transformative social change, and in photography’s power to envision this, is brought forth.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e—Jennifer Raab \u003ci\u003eCAA.Reviews\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTable of Contents\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eList of Illustrations\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAcknowledgments\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIntroduction: Elevate the Masses\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e1\tThe Fierce Flames of Democracy\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e2\tRemove the Foul Blot\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e3\tLabor’s Portrait Gallery\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e4\tWashington’s Promise\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eConclusion: Convince the Understanding, Arouse the Conscience\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eNotes\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIndex\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Pennsylvania State University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49400809816407,"sku":"9780271086095","price":44.21,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9780271086095.jpg?v=1730471627","url":"https:\/\/bookcurl.com\/products\/elevate-the-masses-9780271086095","provider":"Book Curl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}