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Photography: A Critical Introduction
Hardcover
General ArtGeneral SociologyPhotography History & Criticism
ISBN13: 9781032724171
Publisher: Routledge
Published: Nov 17 2026
Pages: 500
Language: English
Now in its seventh edition, this seminal textbook examines key debates in photographic theory and places them in their social and political contexts. Written especially for students in further and higher education and for introductory college courses, it provides a coherent introduction to the nature of photographic seeing.
Individual chapters cover:
- Key debates in photographic theory and history
- Documentary photography and photojournalism
- Personal and popular photography
- Photography and the human body
- Photography and commodity culture
- Photography as art
This revised and updated edition includes new or extended discussion of topics such as Black Lives Matter and the racialised body, selfies, personal photographs as archives, materiality, AI and the body, influencers and social media, nation branding and an extended critical discussion of landscape and the environment.
Illustrated with over 100 colour and black and white photographs, it features work from Bill Brandt, Edward Burtynsky, Susan Derges, Hannah Höch, Sant Khalsa, Karen Knorr, Dorothea Lange, Chrystel Lebas, Susan Meiselas, Lee Miller, Martin Parr, Ingrid Pollard, Jacob Riis, Alexander Rodchenko, Cindy Sherman and Jeff Wall.
Fully updated online resources information, including guides to public archives and useful websites, a full glossary of terms and a comprehensive bibliography, plus additional resources at www.routledge.com/cw/Wells make this an ideal introduction to the field.
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Wells, Liz
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