Laurence King Photography: A Cultural History (2nd edition)

This very readable, groundbreaking survey of international photography is a great new course-book for students of photography who not only want to cover the history of photography but its impact on society. Erudite and entertaining it shows how pictures really did change our world.

It examines the discipline across the full range of its uses by both professionals and amateurs, has been expanded and brought up to date for this new second edition. Each of the eight chapters takes a period of up to 40 years and examines the medium through the lenses of art, science, social science, travel, war, fashion, the mass media and individual practitioners. These broad topics complement a fully developed cultural context whose emphasis is more on key ideas than individuals. The author, lecturer in History of Photography at Syracuse University New York, also pays close attention to how contemporary practitioners, commentators and beholders have talked about specific works, the nature of photography and the photographer's changing role in society.

With 668 illustrations and 560 pages this visual book is an authoritative and hefty read. The contents include Loading; The big picture; The bridge; This is a camera; now got out and take some pictures;
So you want to be a photographer; The bible; Reader's challenge - greater for recapping.