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Product Description
From the first misty `heliograph' taken by Joseph Nicephore Niepce in 1826 to the classic compositions of Cartier-Bresson and Alfred Steiglitz, to the striking postmodern strategies of Robert Mapplethorpe, Cindy Sherman and Victor Burgin, the history of photography is a record of dazzling and penetrating images. But photographs are also the most pervasive images of our time, infinite in their capacity to record and make moments significant, granting status to everything they touch. So how do we read a photograph? In a series of brilliant discussions of major themes and genres, Graham Clarke gives a clear and incisive account of the photograph's historical development, and elucidates the insights of the most interesting thinkers on the subject such as Roland Barthes and Susan Sontag. At the heart of the book is his ground-breaking examination of the main subject areas - landscape, the city, portraiture, the body, and reportage - and his detailed analysis of exemplary images in terms of their cultural and ideological contexts.
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In a world dominated by visual images the photograph has become almost invisible. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
In a world dominated by visual images the photograph has become almost invisible. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
17 of 18 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I've read a lot of technical, 'how to' photography books; I've also read lots of books on composition and lighting. I am a very keen amateur photographer and I understand the techhnical bits, I was more interested in the meanings and interpretations of photographs. But I was always left wanting for a book that gave you just a little bit more than 'how to' ...
If you've ever felt the same way, there's a good chance that Clarke's book is the one that you are looking for. This could easily be used as a reference work for an undergrad degree (if not post-grad), yet it's always an easy read and interesting to pick up and browse a particular section, or just flick through the many interesting and high quality pictures. This last is something worth emphasising - this is a quality book on thick, quality paper and the picture reproduction is great.
It's just as scholarly as anything by Sontag or Barthes, but written in a much more accessible way:
"In a world dominated by visual images the photograph has become almost invisible. We take photographs, look at them endlessly, and carry them around with us so that their currency is pervasive. They are one of the most common of objects that change hands every day. And yet such a common status belies their underlying complexity and difficulty; for we are always left with the primary and shifting question: what precisely is a photograph?"
Just so you get an idea of what this book contains, the contents is as follows.
1. What is a photograph?
2. How do we read a photograph?
3. Photography and the nineteenth century
4. Landscape in photography
5. The city in photography
6. The portrait in photography
7. The body in photography
8. Documentary photography
9. The photograph as fine art
10. The photograph manipulated
11. The Cabinet of Infinite Curiosities
If you've ever felt the same way, there's a good chance that Clarke's book is the one that you are looking for. This could easily be used as a reference work for an undergrad degree (if not post-grad), yet it's always an easy read and interesting to pick up and browse a particular section, or just flick through the many interesting and high quality pictures. This last is something worth emphasising - this is a quality book on thick, quality paper and the picture reproduction is great.
It's just as scholarly as anything by Sontag or Barthes, but written in a much more accessible way:
"In a world dominated by visual images the photograph has become almost invisible. We take photographs, look at them endlessly, and carry them around with us so that their currency is pervasive. They are one of the most common of objects that change hands every day. And yet such a common status belies their underlying complexity and difficulty; for we are always left with the primary and shifting question: what precisely is a photograph?"
Just so you get an idea of what this book contains, the contents is as follows.
1. What is a photograph?
2. How do we read a photograph?
3. Photography and the nineteenth century
4. Landscape in photography
5. The city in photography
6. The portrait in photography
7. The body in photography
8. Documentary photography
9. The photograph as fine art
10. The photograph manipulated
11. The Cabinet of Infinite Curiosities
21 of 24 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I used this book as part of a photography module on my degree and found it a very useful and clear cut.
The ideas, advice and conventions in the book will help any photogrophy student as well as many artists on their way to creating well thought out imagery.
38 of 44 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Graham Clarke has given the kind of theoratical advice which will help any Photography student through the hard times a marvelous read which is easy to follow and explains the codes and conventions in which we are all governed by.. A must for all photographers!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
The photograph: A visual and cultural history.
This is really helpful for photography students needing a overview of the history of photography and a background to noted photographers work and its cultural background.
Published 5 months ago by Vicky Williams
An essential guide for students and lecturers.
For those who have a deeper interest in the medium of photography Graham Clarke's book is a great place to start. Read more
Published 15 months ago by Mr. N. E. Brewer
Over-rated
Typical of the pseudo-art crowd, this book is long-winded and the points which are made are obvious in the extreme. Read more
Published 19 months ago by Darryl Godfrey
Informative and engaging
I've used this relatively small book now for two years as an aid to study and it's been invaluable.
This book is not a guide on how to take photographs but an academic... Read more
This book is not a guide on how to take photographs but an academic... Read more
Published 22 months ago by brainleek007
Essential Reading for Students
As the title says really; this book is essential reading for Photography students at any level, or for those whose are looking to expand & investigate further their photographic... Read more
Published on 28 May 2010 by K. N. Robinson
Learn to enjoy photography
Enjoying a photograph is not a purely esthetic matter -knowing the photo story, knowing the life course ot the author is being able to go deeper into what it tells. Read more
Published on 18 May 2010 by Eng A. Siza Vieira
toiletworthy
16 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
Toiletworthy, June 16, 2001
By A Customer
I've read scores of books about photo history and criticism but... Read more
Toiletworthy, June 16, 2001
By A Customer
I've read scores of books about photo history and criticism but... Read more
Published on 3 Sep 2009 by C.Amari
A disappointing account of the history of the photograph
After thoroughly enjoying EH Gombrich's The Story of Art, I was hoping that this book might do the same for the history of the photograph. Read more
Published on 14 Aug 2009 by M. Trigg
Highly reccomended!!
This is such a useful book. Full of information of different types of photography such as portrait, landscape, the body, the city etc etc. Read more
Published on 21 Dec 2008 by A. Luker
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