Photography
The Key Concepts
Published on 1. July 2009
Book
Paperback/Softback
224 pages
978-1-84520-667-3 (ISBN)
Description
Since its introduction nearly 200 years ago, photography has become part of everyday life, a position consolidated by the recent development of digital imaging and manipulation. Used to confirm identity, to sell products, to reshape the real, to visualize the news, to record and communicate the personal moment, and as an art form in its own right, photography is now one of the most accessible and pervasive of media. Photography: The Key Concepts provides an ideal guide to the place of photography in our society and to the extraordinary range of photographic genres. Outlining the history of photography and explaining the body of theory which has built up around its use, the book guides the reader through the genres of documentary, portraiture, landscape, still life, art and global photography. Illustrated with a range of historical and contemporary images and case material, this book is essential reading for anyone interested in photography.
Reviews / Votes
Photography: The Key Concepts, brilliantly engages students in the essential theoretical debates around contemporary photography. While not shying away from the necessity for the serious study of theory, not least in the core approaches of semiotics and psychoanalysis, it strikes just the right balance between erudition and plain explanation. Michael O'Brien, Roehampton University This volume is cleverly written and could be helpful in a context where students' reading is supervised and commented upon. B.P. Chalifour, CHOICE MagazineMore details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Target group
College/higher education
Illustrations
20 b&w illustrations, bibliography, index
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 156 mm
Thickness: 12 mm
Weight
372 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-84520-667-3 (9781845206673)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
New editions
Book
01/2019
2nd Edition
Bloomsbury Visual Arts
€62.20
Shipment within 15-20 days
Book
02/2016
2nd Edition
Berg Publishers
€44.75
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Person
David Bate is a photographer and writer on photography. He is currently Reader in Photography and Course Leader of the MA Photographic Studies programme at the University of Westminster. His theoretical writings include the book Photography and Surrealism and his photographic works have been exhibited in Europe and North America.
Content
CONTENTS List of Illustrations Acknowledgements Introduction Genre Approaches Introduction Summary 1 History De?nitions Historical Problems The History of Photography Photography as Discourse Photographs as Historical Objects Historical Example Photographic Knowledge Plural Meanings Chapter Summary 2 Photography Theory A Short History of Photography Theory Theory of Representation The Language of Photography Points of View Denotation - The Visual Signi?ers CONTENTS List of Illustrations Acknowledgements Introduction Genre Approaches Introduction Summary 1 History De?nitions Historical Problems The History of Photography Photography as Discourse Photographs as Historical Objects Historical Example Photographic Knowledge Plural Meanings Chapter Summary 2 Photography Theory A Short History of Photography Theory Theory of Representation The Language of Photography Points of View Denotation - The Visual Signi?ers Connotations - The Cultural Signi?ed Realism and Reality Poststructuralism Chapter Summary 3 Documentary and Story-telling Editorial Control Auteur Photographers Democratic Vision How the Other Half Lives Reportage 'Decisive Moment' as Peripateia Staging Reality Eyewitness Reality and Representation Desire to See Colour Documentary Tableaux on the Street Chapter Summary 4 Looking at Portraits Identity The Industrial Portrait Mass Portraiture Bureaucratic Portraits Elements of a Portrait 'Reading' Portraits Recognition Identi?cation Narcissism and Looking Projection The Blank Expression Chapter Summary 5 In the Landscape Vision and Knowledge History of Landscape Beauty and the Sublime Photographic Vision Exploration Aesthetics of Description Composure Panoramas Conclusion Chapter Summary 6 The Rhetoric of Still Life Advertising Critique of Advertising Advertising Agency Social Fantasy Product Shots Techniques The Art of Description Still-life Sub-genres Hyperbole The New Objectivity Rhetoric of the Image The Object Image Chapter Summary 7 Art Photography Art Autonomy Mediums Painting and Photography Paradigms Photography in Contemporary Art The Pictorial Paradigm Conceptual Art Street Photography 'Fine art' photography Postmodernism Art as Global Industry Chapter Sumary 8 Global Photography The Globalization of Photography The Flow of Photography World Photography Critique of Universalism Local Readings The World Wide Web The Digital Photograph Image Dissemination Chapter Summary Questions for Essays and Class Discussion Annotated Guide for Further Reading Notes Select Bibliography Index Connotations - The Cultural Signi?ed Realism and Reality Poststructuralism Chapter Summary 3 Documentary and Story-telling Editorial Control Auteur Photographers Democratic Vision How the Other Half Lives Reportage 'Decisive Moment' as Peripateia Staging Reality Eyewitness Reality and Representation Desire to See Colour Documentary Tableaux on the Street Chapter Summary 4 Looking at Portraits Identity The Industrial Portrait Mass Portraiture Bureaucratic Portraits Elements of a Portrait 'Reading' Portraits Recognition Identi?cation Narcissism and Looking Projection The Blank Expression Chapter Summary 5 In the Landscape Vision and Knowledge Historical Context Beauty and the Sublime Photographic Vision Exploration Aesthetics of Description Composure Panoramas Conclusion Chapter Summary 6 The Rhetoric of Still Life Advertising Critique of Advertising Advertising Agency Social Fantasy Product Shots Techniques The Art of Description Still-life Sub-genres Hyperbole The New Objectivity Rhetoric of the Image The Object Image Chapter Summary 7 Art Photography Art Autonomy Mediums Painting and Photography Paradigms Photography in Contemporary Art The Pictorial Paradigm Conceptual Art Street Photography 'Fine art' photography Postmodernism Art as Global Industry Chapter Sumary 8 Global Photography The Globalization of Photography The Flow of Photography World Photography Critique of Universalism Local Readings The World Wide Web The Digital Photograph Image Dissemination Chapter Summary Questions for Essays and Class Discussion Annotated Guide for Further Reading Notes Select Bibliography Index