Frederick Sommer: A World of Bonds

This pioneering book offers fresh insights into the photographic work of the American artist Frederick Sommer, whose long career spanned the 20th century. With detailed analyses of individual photographs, Frederick Sommer: A World of Bonds unpacks the ways in which the artist generates ’other ways of seeing’ while simultaneously facilitating an examination of photography’s modernity and modernism.

The authors show how Sommer’s work allows for a deeper exploration of the potential of photography as a medium and, at the same time, demonstrate that it cannot be understood solely in the photographic terms established by his contemporaries. The chapters explore a wide range of themes including violence and death, metamorphosis, landscape, the relationship between alchemy and the creative process, the materiality of photographs, and embodied vision. Though usually discussed in relation to surrealism, Sommer took inspiration from a multitude of sources in art history as well as philosophy, literature, and science among others. Thinking about Sommer’s photographs within a broader framework in this way therefore offers a new understanding of his work as a dialogue with aesthetic ideas that aim to make sense of the world.

Engaging with themes of cosmopolitanism, assemblage and visuality, the book will be of interest to scholars of art history, photography, and visual studies with interests in post-war art and modernism.

Hazel Donkin was a lecturer in History of Art at Durham University, UK, where she taught for 20 years. She retired in 2024 and is now an honorary member of staff. She has previously published work on surrealism and photography, including both articles and book chapters.

Ian Walker was Professor of Photography at the University of South Wales, UK. He has authored three books on surrealism and photography and hosts further writings on his website: ianwalkerphoto.com.