Conceptual photography

Conceptual photography is a type of photography in which the image primarily illustrates or embodies an idea rather than aiming at a purely aesthetic or documentary depiction of reality. It emerged within the conceptual art of the 1960s and 1970s, when thought, intention and language became more important than skill of execution. In this approach photography often serves merely to record a performance, an action, a series or a logical sequence, rather than functioning as a self-sufficient "beautiful shot." Artists such as John Baldessari, Sophie Calle, Ed Ruscha, and Bernd and Hilla Becher with their typologies of industrial structures used the camera as a tool for research, classification and critique of the medium itself. Conceptual photography is frequently accompanied by text, an instruction or a system of rules that generate the work's meaning. This intellectual, idea-driven approach greatly expanded the boundaries of photography and shaped contemporary art, including the practices of Ukrainian authors who combine image with reflection on memory, history and identity.