History of Photography

Last year, I took a local course on the History of Photography. I found the subject matter very interesting, and enjoyed learning more about the context and role that photography played in our country’s history. I’m going to list a few of the books right now, and will hopefully add some summaries later this month or next.

• Luke Swank, Modernist Photographer — Howard Bossen
• A World History of Photography
• American Photography and the American Dream (Cultural Studies of the United States) — James Guimond
• Documentary Expression and Thirties America — William Stott
• Let Us Now Praise Famous Men — James Agee & Evan Walker
• Photography and Politics in America: From the New Deal into the Cold War — Lili Corbus Benzer

Learning about our profession is important — and even though some of these texts are more oriented towards the photojournalist, I would consider the texts relevant and interesting to photographers in any specialty.