The Radical Eye: Modernist Photography from the Sir Elton John Collection

As life underwent rapid changes in the twentieth century, photography offered a new means to communicate and represent the world. The Radical Eye introduces this crucial moment in the history of photography an exciting period often referred to as the coming of age of the medium, when artists used the camera and darkroom to redefine and transform visions of the modern world, and technological advancements gave them the freedom to experiment and test the medium to its very limits.

Timeless genres of the portrait, nude and still life were reimagined, and street life and the modern metropolis were captured from a fresh, uniquely modern perspective.
Drawn from The Sir Elton John Collection, one of the greatest private collections of photography in the world, The Radical Eye presents an unrivalled selection of more than 175 classic modernist images from the 1920s to the 1950s. Showcasing rarely seen vintage prints, the book highlights the work of seventy key figures, including Brassai, Andre Kertesz, Dorothea Lange, Man Ray, Tina Modotti and Edward Steichen. These remarkable images are accompanied by an interview with Sir Elton John, essays on modernist photography and technology and innovation by Dawn Ades and Shoair Mavlian, and biographies of the photographers.

Sir Elton John’s truly remarkable collection of international modernist photography stems from personal passion: since 1991, he has amassed more than two thousand photographs, which include key figures from Europe and America alongside many of the foremost photographers from Japan, Eastern Europe and Latin America. 

This book draws together the finest works from 1920 to 1950, a period that is widely considered to be photography’s ‘coming of age’, a time of great experimentation and innovation when artists pushed the boundaries of the medium. In the mid 1920s László Moholy-Nagy coined the term New Vision to describe the way photography could be used to see the world through a modern lens. As new technology developed, it allowed the freedom both to experiment and to record, leading to new developments such as photograms, typographics and the bird’s and worm’s eye views. This period also encompassed key avant-garde movements of the 20th century in which photography played a central role – dada, surrealism, the Bauhaus and Russian constructivism. 

With over 175 illustrations, an interview with Sir Elton John exploring the motivations behind his collecting, and essays looking at the photographs within the history of modernism and an exploration of the impact of technical innovations on the form, The Radical Eye will introduce a new audience to this unique body of work and provide an indispensable resource to those who are already fans of the period. 

Simon Baker is Senior Curator, International Art (Photography) at Tate Modern. 

Shoair Mavlian is Assistant Curator at Tate Modern.