Photography: A Critical Introduction

This textbook examines key debates in photographic theory and places them in their social and political contexts. Written especially for students in higher education and for introductory college courses, this fully revised edition provides a coherent introduction to the nature of photographic seeing.

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Photography: A Critical Introduction was the first introductory textbook to examine key debates in photographic theory and place them in their social and political contexts, and is now established as one of the leading textbooks in its field. Written especially for students in higher education and for introductory college courses, this fully revised edition provides a coherent introduction to the nature of photographic seeing.

Individual chapters cover:



Key debates in photographic theory and history
Documentary photography and photojournalism
Personal and popular photography
Photography and the human body
Photography and commodity culture
Photography as art

This revised and updated fifth edition includes:



New case studies on topics such as: materialism and embodiment, the commodification of human experience, and an extended discussion of landscape as genre.
98 photographs and images, featuring work from: Bill Brandt, Susan Derges, Rineke Dijkstra, Fran Herbello, Hannah Höch, Karen Knorr, Dorothea Lange, Chrystel Lebas, Susan Meiselas, Lee Miller, Martin Parr, Ingrid Pollard, Jacob Riis, Alexander Rodchenko, Andres Serrano, Cindy Sherman and Jeff Wall.
Fully updated resource information, including guides to public archives and useful websites.
A full glossary of terms and a comprehensive bibliography.

Contributors: Michelle Henning, Patricia Holland, Derrick Price, Anandi Ramamurthy and Liz Wells.