In 'staged' photography the artist takes on the role of a director, creating or staging an image. He or she uses models, props, costumes or lighting, often creating a theatrical quality. This beautifully produced book traces the history of the staged photograph, focusing on such key themes as the artist as actor, art historical imagery, and narratives and allegories. It includes engaging essays on Victorian tableaux vivants, Surrealism, and iconic photographs from the 1930s and 1940s previously thought to be documentary images but that were in fact staged.

Customer Review: Gorgeous book

I find this book to be inspiring and creatively useful on top of it just being gorgeous! If you have any interest in photography, film or narrative image making you need to get this book.

Customer Review: Deserves a spot in an authoritative art library collection as well as many a film library holding

ACTING THE PART: PHOTOGRAPHY AS THEATRE could also have been featured in our 'Film and Stage' section, but is reviewed here for its fine history of staged photography as a genre. A sampling of such works range from the 1840s to modern times and pairs film stills and artwork with essays by Lori Pauli and others on the use of painting as inspiration, Surrealism and plays, narrative strategies and photographic effects, and more. As the first major history of staged photography, it deserves a spot in an authoritative art library collection as well as many a film library holding.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

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