The PhotographHow do we read a photograph? In this rich and fascinating work, Graham Clarke gives a clear and incisive account of the photograph's historical development, and elucidates the insights of the most engaging thinkers on the subject, such as Roland Barthes and Susan Sontag. From the first misty "heliograph" taken by Joseph Nicephore Niepce in 1826 to the classic compositions of Cartier-Bresson and Alfred Steiglitz and the striking postmodern strategies of Robert Mapplethorpe, Clarke provides a groundbreaking examination of photography's main subject areas--landscape, the city, portraiture, the body, and reportage--as well as a detailed analysis of exemplary images in terms of their cultural and ideological contexts. With over 130 illustrations, The Photograph offers a series of discussions of major themes and genres providing an up-to-date introduction to the history of photography and creating a record of the most dazzling, penetrating, and pervasive images of our time. |
Contents
Introduction | 7 |
What is a Photograph? | 11 |
How Do We Read a Photograph? | 27 |
Photography and the Nineteenth Century | 41 |
Landscape in Photography | 55 |
The City in Photography | 75 |
The Portrait in Photography ΙΟΙ Chapter 7 The Body in Photography | 123 |
Documentary Photography | 145 |
The Photograph Manipulated | 187 |
The Cabinet of Infinite Curiosities | 207 |
Notes | 222 |
List of Illustrations | 226 |
Bibliographic Essay | 230 |
Timeline | 234 |
Glossary | 238 |
240 | |
Common terms and phrases
aesthetic Alfred Stieglitz ambiguity American photographer André Kertész approach aspects Atget basic Bill Brandt body Brassaď calotype camera central codes colour complex concern context critical cultural Daguerre daguerreotype declared depiction detail Diane Arbus distinctive documentary photograph documentary photography dominant Edward Weston effect enigmatic Essays established example female figure frame of reference Gallery Garry Winogrand Gelatin-silver print icon ideal identity individual insists John Kertész landscape photography larger literal look male means of representation Modern Art nature nineteenth century nude O'Keeffe objects obvious painting Paris Paul Strand period perspective photographic image photographic space picture portrait photograph presence problematic questions radical record reflects relation relationship remains Robert Robert Mapplethorpe Roger Fenton Royal Photographic Society scene sense sexual significance social status street suggest surface symbolic terms of reference tradition underlying Untitled urban visual Walker Evans war photography Weegee Weston York