Photography: A Critical Introduction

by Liz Wells (Editor)

This seminal text for photography students identifies key debates in photographic theory, stimulates discussion and evaluation of the critical use of photographic images and ways of seeing. This new edition retains the thematic structure and text features of its predecessors but also expands coverage on photojournalism, digital imaging techniques, race and colonialism. The content is updated with additional international and contemporary examples and images throughout and the inclusion of colour photos. Features of this new edition include:

*Key concepts and short biographies of major thinkers
*Updated international and contemporary case studies and examples
*A full glossary of terms, a comprehensive bibliography
*Resource information, including guides to public archives and useful websites

Genres: Photography, Art, Nonfiction, Reference, Philosophy, Art and Photography

424 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1997

Reviews

[Clare O'Beara · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was on my college required reading list for Digital Photography. A variety of authors write chapters according to their speciality: from the age of daguerreotypes and camera obscura, to the expansion of photography into a well-off person's hobby, especially while touring; to social documentation; to government project; to modern photography art; postmodern art; family photo snaps; up to digital imaging, phone cameras, adverts and stock shots, and digitising libraries of old images.

Strange omission is the Polaroid Land compared with the Kodak Instamatic. When we used Instamatic in the 1980s Kodak was in a rights battle with Polaroid, the inventor of the instant developing photo. When Kodak lost they could no longer sell the film, so anyone with an Instamatic was asked to hand it in and were given one of two family snap cameras; the friend who did this got a Kodak Disc camera, which was frankly not very good and soon vanished. The exposures were made onto a disc rather than onto strips of film.

This book was published in 2009 and does not mention Kodak's steep decline (filing for bankruptcy in 2012) due to digital.
Plenty of images are included and the wide margins are used for notes and refs. to other publications.
Some of the chapters are rather arty and contain what seem like checklists of exhibiting artists, most of whom I had not heard of and who were American. I was more interested in the look at "Do women have to be naked to get into the Metropolitan Museum of Art? Answer: less than 5% of the artists in the Modern Art sections are women, but 85% of the nudes are female -Guerilla Girls."

Terms used include male gaze, objectification, preconceived ideas, colonial gaze, commodification, semiotics, multiple meanings - dominant, negotiated and oppositional - constructed narrative, richly detailed digitally generated montage, mundane family snapshot, important photographic records, visual anthropology, analysed through reference to psychoanalysis.
People cited include Roland Barthes and Susan Sontag, although I can't find that either of these philosophers left any body of photography work.

I borrowed this book from DBS Library. This is an unbiased review.

[Zahra Farhoodi · Rating 4 out of 5]

خوبی این کتاب این بود که میاد سیر شکل گیری مفاهیم مورد بحث عکاسی رو از ابتدا تو یک شاخه مشخص بررسی میکنه و اینجوری موضوعات متمرکز بررسی میشه وخبری از شاخه به شاخه پریدن نیست. هر فصل کتاب در مورد یکی از شاخه های مهم عکاسیه و میاد چطوری شکل گیری اون شاخه، سیر آرا و اندیشه های مرتبط و افراد تاثیر گذار رو بررسی میکنه در آخر هم مطابق با مفهومی که داره مطرح میکنه چندتا نمونه پژوهی رو مثال میزنه.
خوبیه دیگه این کتاب این بود که هرجا نظریه یا اندیشه ای رو مطرح میکنه میاد منابع مرتبط با اون رو هم برای مطالعه بیشتر معرفی میکنه
به نظرم با خوندن این کتاب در آخر میتونیم یه تصویر کلی از شیوه شکل گیری عمل عکاسی و این که چطوری شد شاخه های مختلف عکاسی به وجود اومدن و چطور تبدیل به یک هنر شد رو داشته باشیم
موضوغ فصل های کتاب به ترتیب:
فصل یک در مورد جنبه های نظری عکاسی
فصل دو در مورد عکاسی مستند
فصل سه در مورد کاربرد عکاسی در زندگی شخصی و آلبوم های خانوادگی
فصل چهار در مورد بازنمایی بدن در عکاسی
فصل پنج در مورد کاربرد عکاسی در تبلیغات
فصل شش در مورد ارتباط عکاسی با هنر و نهادهای هنری
فصل هفت در مورد تصویرپردازی دیجیتال

[Charlie Mansfield · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading the new sixth edition from Routledge in blue hardback published 2021

[Aelia · Rating 2 out of 5]

This introduction is appropriate for bachelor students, or those who just got interested with Photography (and the theoretical discourse around it).
Several chapters are worth reading, like documentary photography and influences of new media on photography, whereas including chapters about family/house photos I think was not necessary.
Anyway, it’s a good start (together with Liz Well's Photography Reader) to draw general picture about academic discourse around photography.

[Maddie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Had to tackle this one for university, and surprisingly, it was quite interesting. It delves into a wide range of topics, most of which I find intriguing. Gave it a lower score initially because, let's be honest, back then, I hated reading and didn't enjoy it. But revisiting it now, probably because it's my choice to read, I find it more appealing. 😅📚

[Mark Winterbourne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book, a companion for any student photographer wanting to know the theories behind image making in modern and past times. The reading can be quite heavy and a little "Arty" but quite understandable considering the connection

[Jamie]

I've read some of the chapters in this book. It's like a basic text book about photo issues and theories.

[P]

sorry, here it is

[Ali · Rating 3 out of 5]

با توجه به نوع منظوری که من داشتم زیاد خوب نبود !

[Greg Tatum · Rating 2 out of 5]

I can't believe I got 3 hours of college credit off of this book.