Photography : a very short introduction / [electronic resource]
Steve Edwards
- Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, 2006
- Very short introductions ; 151 .
- Very short introductions ; 151 .
Includes bibliographical references and index
Preface -- List of illustrations -- 1: Forgetting photography -- 2: Documents -- 3: Pictures -- 4: What is photograph? -- 5: Apparatus and its image -- 6: Fantasy and remembrance -- Afterword: Digital photography -- Further reading -- Index
From the Publisher: Photographs are an integral part of our daily lives, from sensationalist images in tabloid papers, to personal family snapshots, to the art photography displayed in galleries and sold through international art markets. In this thought-provoking exploration of the subject, Steve Edwards provides a clear, lively, and imaginative approach to the definition, importance, and meaning of photography. He combines a sense of its historical development with an analysis of its purpose and meaning within a wider cultural context. Edwards also discusses both well-known and more unusual photos, from the highly controversial Cottingley Fairies to Ansel Adams landscapes, and from the shocking and influential Eddie Adams image of a Vietcong suspect being executed to the portrait/performance art work of Cindy Sherman. Edwards interrogates the way we look and think about photographs, and considers such issues as truth and recording, objectivity and fine art, identity and memory