Photography's great success gives us the impression that the major questions that have haunted the medium are now resolved. On the contrary - the most important questions are just beginning to be asked. These fourteen essays, with over 200 illustrations, critically examine and challenge the prevailing formalist values of late modernism that have been applied to the medium and suggest new ways to explain the history of photography.

The essays examine the social consequences of aesthetic practice and look at how photography constructs sexual difference, how it is used to promote class and national interests, and at the politics of photographic truth.

Richard Bolton is Associate Professor and Chairperson in the Art Studio Department at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Customer Review: Ouch, but Ahhh.

This book makes my brain hurt, but in a good way. Some of the essays are pretty tough to read as they are very deeply rooted in the world of art historical criticism, but don't let that stop you from getting this book; you'll learn a lot and come away with some good insights into the subject of photography and the history of photography. It would be very helpful to get a companion book that contains some of the artists and works that are discussed here, so you have the images to look at and non-critical, historical looks at the artists for background and context. Something like Beumont Newhall's "History of Photography" would be an excellent match.

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