Photography：History and Theory

Photography:HistoryandTheoryintroducesstudentstoboththehistoryofphotographyandcriticaltheory.Fromitsinceptioninthenineteenthcentury,photographyhasinstigatedaseriesoftheoreticaldebates.Inthisnewtext,JaeEmerlingthereforearguesthatthemostinsightfulwaytoapproachthehistoriesofphotographyistoaddresssimultaneouslythekeyeventsofphotographichistoryalongsidethetheoreticaldiscoursethataccompaniedthem.Whilethenineteenthcenturyisdiscussed,thecentralfocusofthetextisonmodernandcontemporaryphotographictheory.Particularattentionispaidtokeythinkers,suchasBaudelaire,BarthesandSontag.Inaddition,thecentralityofphotographytocontemporaryartpracticeisaddressedthroughthetheoreticalworkofAllanSekula,JohnTagg,RosalindKrauss,andVilemFlusser.Thetextalsoincludesreadingsofmanycanonicalphotographersandexhibitionsincluding:Atget,Brassai,AugustSander,WalkerEvans,TheFamilyofMan,DianeArbus,LeeFriedlander,CindySherman,BerndandHillaBecher,SebastaioSalgado,JeffWall,andothers.Inaddition,Emerlingprovidesclosereadingsofkeypassagesfromsomemajortheoreticaltexts.Theseglossescomebetweenthechaptersandserveasaconceptuallinethatconnectsthem.Glossesinclude:RolandBarthes,"TheRhetoricoftheImage"(1964)SusanSontag,RegardingthePainofOthers(2002)MichelFoucaultonthearchive(1969)WalterBenjamin,"LittleHistoryofPhotography"(1931)VilemFlusser,TowardsaPhilosophyofPhotography(1983)Asubstantialglossaryofcriticaltermsandnames,aswellasanextensivebibliography,makethistheidealbookforcoursesonthehistoryandtheoryofphotography.