Photography: The Key Concepts

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

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.

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• Introduction: From A Game for Rough Girls to A Beautiful Game: Dusting the Mirror of Women's Football
• The US Case Study: The Girls of Summer?
• Case Study of the PR China: The Iron Roses
• Case Study of England: A Grass Ceiling?
• Case Study of Australia: Waltzing with the Matildas
• Conclusion: Fair Game?

Reviews provided by Syndetics

CHOICE Review

Bate (Univ. of Westminster, UK) presents this volume as a guide to key concepts and practices in photography, and offers to provide the tools "to understand their operations within a more critical framework." This work includes 22 black-and-white illustrations for eight chapters covering photo history, photo theory, reportage, portraits, landscapes, still-lifes, and art photography and concluding with "Global Photography." The format is that of a written university course and presents the same qualities and flaws of the genre: namely, it represents an individual's point of view. Some chapters, e.g., "Composure," are remarkable and enlightening. Some are confusing, if not confused, such as subchapters titled "'Decisive Moment' as Peripateia" and "Colour Documentary" or those that just state truisms. For instance, who cannot but be glad to learn that John Tagg "shows that photography contributes to culture across many uses"? The reader is in the presence of a book in search of an editor. In the meantime, Bate's contribution to the field remains one of the few attempts to survey a vast subject in 161 pages. Although it seems to espouse the "Dummies" series format, this volume is cleverly written and could be helpful in a context where students' reading is supervised and commented upon. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty/researchers. B. P. Chalifour SUNY Buffalo