Understanding a Photograph

Understanding a Photograph
Category: History & References in Photography
Author: John Berger
Publisher: Aperture
Publication Date: 2013
Print Length: 256 pages

John Berger's explorations of the relationships between the individual and society, culture and politics, and experience and expression through the written word, films, photographic collaborations and performances are unmatched in their diversity, ambition and reach. His television series and book Ways of Seeing revolutionized the way that art is understood. Now, Understanding a Photograph gathers the photography writings of one of the most internationally influential authors of the past 50 years.

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2027 — Thames & Hudson
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History of Photography Books: Collaboration: A Potential History of Photography

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Marching West: The Los Angeles Civil Rights Movement in Photographs

Jun 2026 — Getty Publications

History of Photography Books: Marching West: The Los Angeles Civil Rights Movement in Photographs

This volume offers a compelling visual record of the people, organizations, and coalitions that shaped the civil rights movement in Los Angeles, presenting a first-of-its-kind photographic history of activism on the American West Coast. In 1963, during a landmark speech at Wrigley Field before nearly forty thousand people, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. challenged Angelenos to confront inequality at home, stating that meaningful change required action within their own city: “The most important th

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Jun 2026 — Black Dog & Leventhal

History of Photography Books: Black Freedom: A Visual History of Juneteenth and Emancipation Days

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The Beatles by Jim Marshall: Live at Candlestick Park 1966

Jun 2026 — Chronicle Books

History of Photography Books: The Beatles by Jim Marshall: Live at Candlestick Park 1966

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Jun 2026 — Steidl

History of Photography Books: New Topographics

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May 2026 — Silvana Editoriale

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May 2026 — Angel City Press

History of Photography Books: In Case You Missed It: Counterculture Photography of the 1960s and 1970s

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May 2026 — ACC Art Books

History of Photography Books: Cambridge Balls

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Photography and Citizenship: The Art and Politics of The Family of Man

May 2026 — Silvana Editoriale

History of Photography Books: Photography and Citizenship: The Art and Politics of The Family of Man

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Kinship & Community: Selections from the Texas African American Photography Archive

Mar 2026 — Aperture

History of Photography Books: Kinship & Community: Selections from the Texas African American Photography Archive

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Jan 2026 — Hatje Cantz

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Dec 2025 — Carnegie Museum of Art

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Oct 2025 — Thames & Hudson
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History of Photography Books: In the Moment: 40 Years of Reuters Photojournalism

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Sep 2025 — Texas A&M University Press

History of Photography Books: A Yellow Rose Project: Responses, Reflections, and Reactions to the Nineteenth Amendment

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Queer Lens: A History of Photography

Jun 2025 — J. Paul Getty Museum

History of Photography Books: Queer Lens: A History of Photography

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Apr 2025 — Walther König, Köln

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A Brief History of Photography: From the Very Beginning to the Age of Digital

Feb 2025 — Rocky Nook

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2024 — RM/Gato Negro Ediciones
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2024 — Yale University Press
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2024 — Thames & Hudson

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2023 — Ten Speed Press
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2022 — ‎ Thames & Hudson

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The Year That Changed Our World

2021 — Thames & Hudson

History of Photography Books: The Year That Changed Our World

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What They Saw: Historical Photobooks by Women

2021 — 10x10 Photobooks

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Ultimate Visual History of the World: The Story of Humankind From Prehistory to Modern Times

2021 — National Geographic

History of Photography Books: Ultimate Visual History of the World: The Story of Humankind From Prehistory to Modern Times

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Bettina Gockel: The Colors of Photography

2020 — De Gruyter

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To Make Their Own Way in the World: The Enduring Legacy of the Zealy Daguerreotypes

2020 — Aperture

History of Photography Books: To Make Their Own Way in the World: The Enduring Legacy of the Zealy Daguerreotypes

To Make Their Own Way in the World is a profound consideration of some of the most challenging images in the history of photography: fifteen daguerreotypes of Alfred, Delia, Drana, Fassena, Jack, Jem, and Renty-men and women of African descent who were enslaved in South Carolina. Photographed by Joseph T. Zealy for Harvard professor Louis Agassiz in 1850, they were rediscovered at Harvard's Peabody Museum in 1976. This groundbreaking multidisciplinary volume features essays by prominent schol

Loving: A Photographic History of Men in Love 1850s-1950s

2020 — 5 Continents Editions Srl

History of Photography Books: Loving: A Photographic History of Men in Love 1850s-1950s

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The Impressionists and Photography

2020 — Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza

History of Photography Books: The Impressionists and Photography

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History at a Glance: Illustrated Time Lines From Prehistory to the Present Day

2019 — National Geographic

History of Photography Books: History at a Glance: Illustrated Time Lines From Prehistory to the Present Day

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Street Photography: A History in 100 Iconic Images

2019 — Prestel

History of Photography Books: Street Photography: A History in 100 Iconic Images

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Issues: A History of Photography in Fashion Magazines

2019 — Phaidon

History of Photography Books: Issues: A History of Photography in Fashion Magazines

Acclaimed photography critic Vince Aletti has selected 100 significant magazine issues from his expansive personal archive, revealing images by photographers rarely seen outside their original context. With his characteristic élan and featuring stunning images, Aletti has created a fresh, idiosyncratic, and previously unexplored angle on the history of photography. Issues, a luxury, oversized object, richly illustrated with brilliant reproductions, and enclosed in an elegant archival-style ma

Photography: History. Art. Technique

2019 — DK

History of Photography Books: Photography: History. Art. Technique

A comprehensive guide to all things photographic, Photography opens with a gallery of more than 30 of the key figures in photography, from 19th-century pioneers to famous photographers working today. The gallery provides fascinating contrasts between such diverse genres as art photography, reportage, portrait, and wildlife photography. The book then tells the story of photography, from its beginnings to the rise of the "selfie" today.

A World History of Photography

2019 — Abbeville Press

History of Photography Books: A World History of Photography

Naomi Rosenblum's classic history of photography traces the evolution of this young art form chronologically and thematically. Exploring the diverse roles that photography has played in the communication of ideas, Rosenblum devotes special attention to topics such as portraiture, documentation, advertising, and photojournalism, and to the camera as a means of personal artistic expression. Her text is illustrated with nearly nine hundred images by photographers both celebrated and little known, a

Obama: An Intimate Portrait

2017 — Little, Brown and Company

History of Photography Books: Obama: An Intimate Portrait

During Barack Obama's two terms, Pete Souza was with the President during more crucial moments than anyone else--and he photographed them all. Souza captured nearly two million photographs of President Obama, in moments highly classified and disarmingly candid. Obama: An Intimate Portrait reproduces more than 300 of Souza's most iconic photographs with fine-art print quality in an oversize collectible format. Together they document the most consequential hours of the Presidency--including the

Unseen: Unpublished Black History from the New York Times Photo Archives

2017 — Black Dog & Leventhal

History of Photography Books: Unseen: Unpublished Black History from the New York Times Photo Archives

It all started with Times photo editor Darcy Eveleigh discovering dozens of these photographs. She and three colleagues, Dana Canedy, Damien Cave and Rachel L. Swarns, began exploring the history behind them, and subsequently chronicling them in a series entitled Unpublished Black History, that ran in print and online editions of The Times in February 2016. It garnered 1.7 million views on The Times website and thousands of comments from readers. This book includes those photographs and many mor

Bystander: A History of Street Photography

2017 — Laurence King Publishing

History of Photography Books: Bystander: A History of Street Photography

In this book, the authors explore and discuss the development of one of the most interesting and dynamic of photographic genres. Hailed as a landmark work when it was first published in 1994, Bystander is widely regarded by street photographers as the "bible" of street photography. It covers an incredible array of talent, from the unknowns of the late 19th century to the acknowledged masters of the 20th, such as Atget, Stieglitz, Strand, Cartier-Bresson, Brassai, Kertesz, Frank, Arbus, Winogr

It's What I Do: A Photographer's Life of Love and War

2015 — Penguin Press

History of Photography Books: It's What I Do: A Photographer's Life of Love and War

War photographer Lynsey Addario’s memoir It’s What I Do is the story of how the relentless pursuit of truth, in virtually every major theater of war in the twenty-first century, has shaped her life. What she does, with clarity, beauty, and candor, is to document, often in their most extreme moments, the complex lives of others. It’s her work, but it’s much more than that: it’s her singular calling. Lynsey Addario was just finding her way as a young photographer when September 11 changed the w

From Darkroom to Daylight

2015 — Daylight

History of Photography Books: From Darkroom to Daylight

From Darkroom to Daylight explores how the dramatic change from film to digital has affected photographers and their work. Harvey Wang interviewed and photographed more than 40 important photographers and prominent figures in the field, including Jerome Liebling, George Tice, Elliott Erwitt, David Goldblatt, Sally Mann, Gregory Crewdson, Susan Meiselas and Eugene Richards, as well as innovators Steven Sasson, who built the first digital camera while at Kodak, and Thomas Knoll, who, along with hi

A History of Women Photographers

2014 — Abbeville Press

History of Photography Books: A History of Women Photographers

Women have had a special relationship with the camera since the advent of photographic technology in the mid-nineteenth century. Photographers celebrated women as their subjects, from intimate family portraits and fashion spreads to artistic photography and nude studies, including Man Ray's Violon d'Ingres. Lesser known - and lesser studied - is the history of women photographers, who continue to make invaluable contributions to this flourishing art form. Featuring more than 300 illustrations

Photography: The Definitive Visual History

2014 — DK

History of Photography Books: Photography: The Definitive Visual History

Written by world-renowned photographer, writer, and broadcaster Tom Ang, Photography lavishly celebrates the most iconic photographs and photographers of the past 200 years. Tracing the history of photography from its origins in the 1800s to the digital age, Photography: The Definitive Visual History is the only book of its kind to give a comprehensive account of the people, the photographs, and the technologies that have shaped the history of photography.

Photobooks Spain 1905-1977

2014 — RM/Museo Nacional Centro De Arte Reina Sofía

History of Photography Books: Photobooks Spain 1905-1977

The form of the photo book allows for narrative meaning to arise from the images, and as such, has been used by many of the most preeminent photographers to present and communicate their works. In Spain particularly, the photo book is colored by a complex national history: the Civil War, the transition to democracy, the social and cultural role of the peasantry and the evolving role of women have all been significantly documented via the photo book. The relationship of Spanish culture and photog

Alessandra Mauro: Photoshow

2014 — Contrasto

History of Photography Books: Alessandra Mauro: Photoshow

A history of photography narrated through exhibitions and the theory that has accompanied it has never been carried out yet. It would be very interesting, furthermore, to trace back the different aesthetic schools and communication theories that have pointed out the evolution of the history of photography and its public moments par excellence: exhibitions.Installations manifest values, ideologies, politics and aesthetics.

The Photobook: A History Volume III

2014 — Phaidon Press

History of Photography Books: The Photobook: A History Volume III

Phaidon’s iconic The Photobook: A History series has been hailed as "the most important contribution to the field since modern histories of photography began" (photo–eye). In the third and final volume, legendary photographer Martin Parr and co–author Gerry Badger bring the series fully up to date with a curated selection of more than 200 photobooks dating from World War II to the present day.

A People’s Art History of the United States

2013 — The New Press

History of Photography Books: A People’s Art History of the United States

Most people outside of the art world view art as something that is foreign to their experiences and everyday lives. A People’s Art History of the United States places art history squarely in the rough–and–tumble of politics, social struggles, and the fight for justice from the colonial era through the present day. Author and radical artist Nicolas Lampert combines historical sweep with detailed examinations of individual artists and works in a politically charged narrative that spans the conques

Photojournalists on War: The Untold Stories from Iraq

2013 — University of Texas Press

History of Photography Books: Photojournalists on War: The Untold Stories from Iraq

With previously unpublished photographs by an incredibly diverse group of the world's top news photographers, Photojournalists on War presents a groundbreaking new visual and oral history of America's nine-year conflict in the Middle East. Michael Kamber interviewed photojournalists from many leading news organizations, including Agence France-Presse, the Associated Press, the Guardian, the Los Angeles Times, Magnum, Newsweek, the New York Times, Paris Match, Reuters, Time, the Times of London,

Photography and the American Civil War

2013 — Metropolitan Museum of Art

History of Photography Books: Photography and the American Civil War

Six hundred thousand lives were lost between 1861 and 1865, making the conflict between North and South the nation’s deadliest war. If the “War Between the States” was the test of the young republic’s commitment to its founding precepts, it was also a watershed in photographic history, as the camera recorded the epic, heartbreaking narrative from beginning to end—providing those on the home front, for the first time, with immediate visual access to the horrors of the battlefield.

Vietnam: The Real War: A Photographic History by the Associated Press

2013 — Harry N. Abrams

History of Photography Books: Vietnam: The Real War: A Photographic History by the Associated Press

To cover the Vietnam War, the Associated Press gathered an extraordinary group of superb photojournalists in its Saigon bureau, creating one of the great photographic legacies of the 20th century. Collected here are images that tell the story of the war that left a deep and lasting impression on American life. These are pictures that both recorded and made history, taken by unbelievably courageous photojournalists. In a moving essay, writer Pete Hamill, who reported from Vietnam in 1965, celebra

Piercing Time: Paris after Marville and Atget 1865-2012

2013 — Intellect Ltd

History of Photography Books: Piercing Time: Paris after Marville and Atget 1865-2012

Piercing Time examines the role of photography in documenting urban change by juxtaposing contemporary “rephotographs” taken by the author with images of nineteenth century Paris taken by Charles Marville, who worked under Georges Haussmann, and corresponding photographs by Eugène Atget taken in the early twentieth century.

JFK: A Photographic Memoir

2013 — YU Art Gallery

History of Photography Books: JFK: A Photographic Memoir

The public outpouring of support for newly elected President John F. Kennedy in 1960 was only exceeded in scope and magnitude by the manifestations of grief and mourning after his assassination in 1963. These responses had an unusually strong visual component: likenesses of the president were framed in shop windows, pinned to living room walls, and plastered in public spaces across the nation. Fifty years after Kennedy’s death, this book observes the public’s reaction to the president’s electi

Color Rush: American Color Photography from Stieglitz to Sherman

2013 — Aperture

History of Photography Books: Color Rush: American Color Photography from Stieglitz to Sherman

Today color photography is so ubiquitous that it's hard to believe there was a time when this was not the case. Color Rush explores the developments that led us to this point, looking at the way color photographs circulated and appeared at the time of their making. From magazine pages to gallery walls, from advertisements to photojournalism, Color Rush charts the history of color photography in the United States from the moment it became available as a mass medium to the moment when it no longer

Photographing the Mexican Revolution: Commitments, Testimonies, Icons

2012 — University of Texas Press

History of Photography Books: Photographing the Mexican Revolution: Commitments, Testimonies, Icons

The Mexican Revolution of 1910-1920 is among the world's most visually documented revolutions. Coinciding with the birth of filmmaking and the increased mobility offered by the reflex camera, it received extraordinary coverage by photographers and cineastes—commercial and amateur, national and international. Many images of the Revolution remain iconic to this day—Francisco Villa galloping toward the camera; Villa lolling in the presidential chair next to Emiliano Zapata; and Zapata standing

Art and Photography (Themes & Movements)

2012 — Phaidon Press
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History of Photography Books: Art and Photography (Themes & Movements)

'Art and Photography' surveys a rich and important history, from the 1960s to the 21st century. Arranged thematically, it presents works by the most significant international artists who have explored and extended the boundaries of photography. This influential body of work by over 160 artists over four decades is contextualised in the 'Documents' section by original artist's statements and interviews, as well as lucid reflections on photography by major thinkers of the era such as Roland Barthe

Photography Changes Everything

2012 — Aperture

History of Photography Books: Photography Changes Everything

Photography Changes Everything offers a provocative rethinking of photography's impact on our culture and our daily lives. Compiling hundreds of images and responses from leading authorities on photography, it offers a brilliant, reader-friendly exploration of the many ways in which photographs package information and values, demand and hold attention, and shape our knowledge of and experience in the world. The volume draws on the extraordinary visual assets of the Smithsonian Institution's muse

Seduced by Art: Photography Past and Present

2012 — National Gallery London

History of Photography Books: Seduced by Art: Photography Past and Present

Today's photography is part of our own cultural moment, but it also arises from artistic traditions of the past. Seduced by Art looks at the effects of art and its history on the creation of photographs, tracing continuities in aims, visual style, and technical experimentation. This sumptuous book shows how photographers such as Julia Margaret Cameron sought to elevate the status of their work by referencing Old Masters. Similarly, contemporary practitioners look to their photographic predecesso

100 Ideas that Changed Photography

2012 — Laurence King Publishers

History of Photography Books: 100 Ideas that Changed Photography

This compelling book chronicles the most influential ideas that have shaped photography from the invention of the daguerreotype in the early 19th century up to the digital revolution and beyond. Entertaining and intelligent, it provides a fascinating resource to dip into. Arranged in a broadly chronological order to show the development of photography, the ideas that comprise the book include innovative concepts, cultural and social incidents, technologies, and movements. Each idea is presented

Instant: The Story of Polaroid

2012 — Princeton Architectural Press

History of Photography Books: Instant: The Story of Polaroid

"Instant photography at the push of a button!" During the 1960s and '70s, Polaroid was the coolest technology company on earth. Like Apple, it was an innovation machine that cranked out one must-have product after another. Led by its own visionary genius founder, Edwin Land, Polaroid grew from a 1937 garage start-up into a billion-dollar pop-culture phenomenon. Instant tells the remarkable tale of Land's one-of-a-kind invention-from Polaroid's first instant camera to hit the market in 1948, to i

Photography: History and Theory

2012 — Taylor & Francis

History of Photography Books: Photography: History and Theory

From its inception in the nineteenth century, photography has instigated a series of theoretical debates. In this new text, Jae Emerling therefore argues that the most insightful way to approach the histories of photography is to address simultaneously the key events of photographic history alongside the theoretical discourse that accompanied them. While the nineteenth century is discussed, the central focus of the text is on modern and contemporary photographic theory. Particular attention i

The Camera as Historian: Amateur Photographers and Historical Imagination, 1885-1918

2012 — Duke University Press Books

History of Photography Books: The Camera as Historian: Amateur Photographers and Historical Imagination, 1885-1918

In the late nineteenth century and early twentieth, hundreds of amateur photographers took part in the photographic survey movement in England. They sought to record the material remains of the English past so that it might be preserved for future generations. In The Camera as Historian, the groundbreaking historical and visual anthropologist Elizabeth Edwards works with an archive of nearly 55,000 photographs taken by 1,000 photographers, mostly unknown until now. She approaches the survey move
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