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Product Description
Product Description
Photographs are an integral part of our daily lives from sensationalist images in tabloid papers and snapshots, to art photograpy displayed in galleries and sold through international art markets. In this thought-provoking exploration of the subject, Edwards combines a sense of the historical development of photography with an analysis of its purpose and meaning within a wider cultural context. He interrogates the way we look and think about photographs, and considers such issues as truth and recording, objectivity and fine art, identity and memory.
About the Author
Dr Steve Edwards is Research Lecturer in Art History at the Open University. Publications include the successful Art and its Histories (Yale, 1999), as Editor.
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
14 of 15 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Anyone interested in the theory of photography can not go wrong with this little book. The author has thorough knowledge of the subject covering all themes from the birth of the camera/photography to the post-modern age including brief discussion of digital photography. As Edwards says in his preface this is not a 'how to' book, it is a discussion of the nature and practice of photograhy, he also writes engagingly. Also contains a very good bibliography.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
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5 reviews
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Philosophical and Dense, Slightly Out of Date
22 Mar 2009
Format:Paperback
This book is mostly about photography's place in the world, how it relates to other arts, and the long-lasting question of whether it can be conceived of as an art. Also, there are good discussions about whether photography is or is not evidence and whether it is or is not a truthful representation. In other words, this is mostly a book about the philosophy of photography, if you will. And, while short, it's dense and full of discussion.
The book's largest flaw is that it glosses over digital photography until the end. For a book published in 2006, this may or may not be acceptable. But, then when the treatment of digital photography does come in a final chapter, that chapter is too simplified at best and verges on incorrect at worst. For example, at one point, the author indicates that it is impossible to detect tampering with an image. While it's true that digital technologies do make wholesale manipulation difficult to detect with the human eye, that's long been the case in photography. In the realm of the digital, there is a lot of work that has gone into algorithms that can detect manipulation. Also, if one is really interested in verifying that a photo is authentic for news purposes, Canon and Nikon (and maybe others) do have software solutions that rely on cryptographic signing to authenticate an image was made with a particular camera at a particular time and whether it was modified. With an attached GPS feed, even location data can be verified.
Still, even with a few glaring issues which seem to be the result of revising the text over time, the book is a thought provoking read. I'd have given 4 stars except for the poor treatment of digital technology in photography.
One further note for the Kindle edition, the font used is inconsistent and not as pleasant to read as the default font used by most of the other Kindle books I've read so far. There are several places where letters are broken. It's simply not as pleasant a read as other books from a font perspective.
The book's largest flaw is that it glosses over digital photography until the end. For a book published in 2006, this may or may not be acceptable. But, then when the treatment of digital photography does come in a final chapter, that chapter is too simplified at best and verges on incorrect at worst. For example, at one point, the author indicates that it is impossible to detect tampering with an image. While it's true that digital technologies do make wholesale manipulation difficult to detect with the human eye, that's long been the case in photography. In the realm of the digital, there is a lot of work that has gone into algorithms that can detect manipulation. Also, if one is really interested in verifying that a photo is authentic for news purposes, Canon and Nikon (and maybe others) do have software solutions that rely on cryptographic signing to authenticate an image was made with a particular camera at a particular time and whether it was modified. With an attached GPS feed, even location data can be verified.
Still, even with a few glaring issues which seem to be the result of revising the text over time, the book is a thought provoking read. I'd have given 4 stars except for the poor treatment of digital technology in photography.
One further note for the Kindle edition, the font used is inconsistent and not as pleasant to read as the default font used by most of the other Kindle books I've read so far. There are several places where letters are broken. It's simply not as pleasant a read as other books from a font perspective.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
A great introduction
24 Aug 2009
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I really like this book and I am considering making it mandatory for my freshman photo students at NYU.
Edwards does a fantastic job of covering the major movements and critical theories in photography without endorsing any one in particular. It's a slim little book can be stashed in a camera bag (easily lost, I am ordering my second copy) and read in bite sized nuggets.
The best part is that he encourages further study by giving you just enough to be interested and then want more.
It's true that it's a bit dated, but as someone who writes about photography, I can attest to the fact that it is fairly impossible to keep up with technology that is progressing so quickly. My last book was outdated before it hit the shelves.
Use this book to establish a framework for the history of photography, then dig deeper on your own
Edwards does a fantastic job of covering the major movements and critical theories in photography without endorsing any one in particular. It's a slim little book can be stashed in a camera bag (easily lost, I am ordering my second copy) and read in bite sized nuggets.
The best part is that he encourages further study by giving you just enough to be interested and then want more.
It's true that it's a bit dated, but as someone who writes about photography, I can attest to the fact that it is fairly impossible to keep up with technology that is progressing so quickly. My last book was outdated before it hit the shelves.
Use this book to establish a framework for the history of photography, then dig deeper on your own
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Snapshot From the History of Photography
2 Nov 2011
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
It is amazing how much we take photographs for granted. Our daily lives are inundated with images of news events, friends other everyday occurrences. All the news stories overwhelmingly feature at least a couple of accompanying images. With the advent of easy digital photography and the social network websites we have access to other people's lives at an unprecedented level. All of this makes it hard to imagine a world without photographs, and what revolutionary change photography has brought.
"Photography: A Very Short Introduction" starts with a conceptual exercise that asks as to try to imagine a dystopian future where photographs would be banned. This thought experiment is based on science fiction novel "Time and Light", and it gives us an opportunity to try to take a look at photography from a partially detached perspective. This will hopefully help us gain a new and deeper appreciation for photography, which is the principal aim of this very short introduction.
This book does a very good job of presenting the historical development not only of the photographic technology, but also of the changing attitudes towards photography and the roles that it plays in culture and society. The author is particularly good at expounding on the artistic merits of photography. This is also something that we take for granted today, but historically it took photography relatively long time to establish itself as a legitimate art form, as opposed to mare passive reproduction of reality.
The book concludes with an afterward dedicated to digital photography. This afterward is almost an afterthought, and the author doesn't seem to be too enamored with the recent digital photography revolution. This is unfortunate and a reflection of the traditional purist attitude towards photography that I've come across all too often. The fact is that most of us today approach photography through its digital incarnation, and the unprecedented availability and the ease of use of digital cameras has significantly raised awareness of all aspects of photographic art. It would have been nice if this book dealt with these topics a bit more extensively.
Overall, this is a fairly informative and well-written book that will be of interest to anyone who wants to know more about the historical development of photography. The writing is very good, although if you are not that into all the nuances of the photographic art you might find it a bit tedious at times.
"Photography: A Very Short Introduction" starts with a conceptual exercise that asks as to try to imagine a dystopian future where photographs would be banned. This thought experiment is based on science fiction novel "Time and Light", and it gives us an opportunity to try to take a look at photography from a partially detached perspective. This will hopefully help us gain a new and deeper appreciation for photography, which is the principal aim of this very short introduction.
This book does a very good job of presenting the historical development not only of the photographic technology, but also of the changing attitudes towards photography and the roles that it plays in culture and society. The author is particularly good at expounding on the artistic merits of photography. This is also something that we take for granted today, but historically it took photography relatively long time to establish itself as a legitimate art form, as opposed to mare passive reproduction of reality.
The book concludes with an afterward dedicated to digital photography. This afterward is almost an afterthought, and the author doesn't seem to be too enamored with the recent digital photography revolution. This is unfortunate and a reflection of the traditional purist attitude towards photography that I've come across all too often. The fact is that most of us today approach photography through its digital incarnation, and the unprecedented availability and the ease of use of digital cameras has significantly raised awareness of all aspects of photographic art. It would have been nice if this book dealt with these topics a bit more extensively.
Overall, this is a fairly informative and well-written book that will be of interest to anyone who wants to know more about the historical development of photography. The writing is very good, although if you are not that into all the nuances of the photographic art you might find it a bit tedious at times.
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