Art Photography

In the last decade, interest in photography has exploded. Among the most compelling and popular art forms, photography is now recognized as central to the development of modern and contemporary art. In this accessibly written survey, art photography comes alive through a series of frames—from documentary style and pictorialism to archives, narratives, and the conceptual uses of the medium. David Bate traces major developments and themes from the earliest days of photography, in the 1830s, to the present day, examining the many ways in which photography and art have intersected since the birth of the medium. Featuring works from a wide and international group of artists—including Henry Fox Talbot, Roger Fenton, Lee Miller, Brassaï, Robert Frank, Nan Goldin, Ed Ruscha, and Gillian Wearing—this comprehensive volume uncovers the Anglo-American and European contexts of art photography, as well as the Asian, African, and Middle Eastern perspectives.