Photography at MoMA: 1960 to Now

In an era of new crossovers and connections between photography and the other visual arts, Szarkowski undertook to define and promote a "pure" (or straight) contemporary photography that relied on its own cardinal virtues (the act of framing, the relationship to reality, the quality of light) and displayed a certain documentary transparency.

He greatly reduced the number of thematic exhibitions, which he considered too didactic, and instead favored those that highlighted personal itineraries and individuals signatures.