Includes bibliographical references and index.

Surveying the spectrum of photography from the mid-nineteenth century to the present, Photography: A Critical Introduction is the first book to examine key debates in photographic theory and place them in their proper social and political contexts. While most histories of photography invariably focus on the works of the "great photographers", this book is written especially to provide a coherent introduction to the nature of photographic seeing and its personal and cultural significance through history.

Contributors lucidly examine a range of major photographic theories, histories, genres and issues, covering such topics as key debates in photographic theory and history; documentary photography and photojournalism; personal and popular photography; photography and commodity culture; photography and the human body; photography as art; and photography in the age electronic imaging.