Walter Benjamin has indisputably—and only posthumously—become one of the most consequential literary critics and theorists of the 20th century, having written on everything from historical materialism and messianic thought to Proust and Kafka. Less widely remembered, however, is his 1931 essay “Little History of Photography,” essentially the founding document of modern photography criticism and the precursor to his revolutionary 1935 essay “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction.” At the Israel Museum, Jerusalem, the exhibition “In Pictures” explores Benjamin’s prophetic analysis alongside photographs by every artist he cited, among them Eugène Atget, Karl Blossfeldt, and Julia Margaret Cameron. —Lucy Horowitz
The Arts Intel Report
A Cultural Compass
For the World Traveler
For the World Traveler
A Cultural Compass
For the World Traveler
In Pictures: Walter Benjamin's Little History of Photography

“Kleine Geschichte der Photographie” by Walter Benjamin, in a 1931 issue of Die literarische Welt.
When
Until Dec 31
Where
Etc
Art
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Israel Museum
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Jerusalem
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Editors’ Picks
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History
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Judaism
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Museum exhibition
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Photography
Photo: © The National Library of Israel