The photo-etchings Camnitzer has produced since the 1970s exemplify his enduring interrogation of the relationship between language and image. Expressive written statements annotate enigmatic images, imbuing them—often sarcastically—with weighty philosophical connotations.
Camnitzer’s own hand is often visible as an intervening force, implicating the artist as subject while guiding the viewer’s attention to conceptual propositions elucidated by the text. In The Measurement of Things (1976/1983) and The Craftsmanship of Landscape (1981), among others, his gesticulations highlight the illusory nature of pictorial depth. Amid the non-descript forest landscape of The Photographer, observed (1981), Camnitzer’s presence is limited to his implicit artistic agency as the creator of the image.