The first photo criticism collection I ever dug into was the book
Light Readings: A Photography Critic's Writings, 1968-1978, written by A.D. Coleman. It was found at the Schenectady Public Library in the photography section. I bring that up to show how accepted and
authoritative this book had become by the mid eighties. This book touched on the deep issues of photography but was still accessible to a newcomer with an 11
th grade education, thus it really became the defining voice for me at the time.
When I was putting together
Sex Machines: Photographs and Interviews I felt I needed to have an intelligent voice on photography contribute to the book in an attempt to steer the readers in the direction I wanted the book to be considered. I wanted smart people to appreciate the intelligence I thought the project had. The publishers and I thought of Mr. Coleman immediately. I was thrilled when he accepted and and wrote the afterword, titled
Like A Loving Machine. Robotic Sex in the New Century. Coleman embraced web communication early on, starting the site
Nearby Cafe in 1995 and now has created the blog
Photocritic International. Visit often, dig into his archives in Nearby Cafe and see it all evolve on the new Photocritic International blog.