In 1917 the American photographer Alvin Langdon Coburn staged a show of eighteen photographs and thirteen watercolors at the London Camera Club. By looking at the context of what his friend Ezra Pound dubbed "Vortographs," this lecture will probe why Coburn sought to free his medium from reality (as he wrote) at this critical historical moment. Presented by Anne McCauley, who this spring will retire as the David Hunter McAlpin Professor of the History of Photography and Modern Art. Cosponsored by the Department of Art & Archaeology.