The Photograph

by Clarke, Graham

• ISBN13: 9780192842008
• ISBN10: 0192842005
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1997-05-08
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

How 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.

Author Biography

Graham Clarke, Reader in Literary and Image Studies at the University of Kent, Canterbury, serves on the advisory board of the journal, History of Photography. His recent publications include The Portrait in Photography and The American City: Literary & Cultural Perspectives.

Table of Contents

Introduction	7	(4)
Chapter 1 What is a Photograph?	11	(16)
Chapter 2 How Do We Read a Photograph?	27	(14)
Chapter 3 Photography and the Nineteenth Century	41	(14)
Chapter 4 Landscape in Photography	55	(20)
Chapter 5 The City in Photography	75	(26)
Chapter 6 The Portrait in Photography	101	(22)
Chapter 7 The Body in Photography	123	(22)
Chapter 8 Documentary Photography	145	(22)
Chapter 9 The Photograph as Fine Art	167	(20)
Chapter 10 The Photograph Manipulated	187	(20)
Chapter 11 The Cabinet of Infinite Curiosities	207	(15)
Notes	222	(4)
List of Illustrations	226	(4)
Bibliographic Essay	230	(4)
Timeline	234	(4)
Glossary	238	(2)
Index	240