- ISBN13: 9780312420093
- Condition: NEW
- Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
Product Description
Winner of the National Book Critics’ Circle Award for Criticism.
One of the most highly regarded books of its kind, On Photography first appeared in 1977 and is described by its author as “a progress of essays about the meaning and career of photographs.” It begins with the famous “In Plato’s Cave”essay, then offers five other prose meditations on this topic, and concludes with a fascinating and far-reaching “Brief Anthology of Quotations.?… More >>
Tags: anthology, meditations, national book critics, national book critics circle, national book critics circle award, photographs, Photography, plato, prose, quotations, remainder mark
#1 by Anonymous on March 24, 2010 - 12:34 am
As a high school student in an AP English class I was assigned to read a critics book. I happened to pick this book off of the list. As I began reading it, it did not interest me at all. I found the book incredibly redundant and pointless. She also constantly used huge words, which made it even harder to read. I thought the book could have been ten pages long and covered everything.
Rating: 1 / 5
#2 by Anonymous on March 24, 2010 - 3:10 am
What a load of garbage. Equating a camera with a gun and the act of photography with a violent crime, is so ridiculous it does not even deserve to be discussed. She has no idea waht she is talking about.
Rating: 1 / 5
#3 by Anonymous on March 24, 2010 - 5:10 am
To be photographed is not the equivalent of being raped. Ask any rape victim. This book is insulting and moronic.
Rating: 1 / 5
#4 by Laura lu on March 24, 2010 - 6:58 am
I was forced to read this drivel for a graduate photo program. God I wanted to kill myself and quit photography by the time I was finished with it.
If you want to read great photographic essays try Bill Jay’s work. Amazing, insightful and filled with a sense of humor.
Rating: 1 / 5
#5 by C. Baytan on March 24, 2010 - 8:20 am
First this book should not ne taken seriously, it’s meant to be just being critical about photography thats all, secondly even though author is American she sounds like European middle age scholar minded critic. Third, she doesn’t know about fine art photography in depth, she only criticises and about 20-30 very famous photographers she knows of, she didn’t taken into account most (almost all) modern photographers. Most of the time she sounds like a 19. century European painter just lost his job because of rising of photography, but also wants to learn about new technique called photography with a great frustration and misses his old job a lot.. Sontags background about philosophy and sociology didn’t help much for a healhty criticsm of photography..
Good try for a criticism of fine art photography, I think every serious fine art photographer should read this book, because it teaches the way how the fine art photography could be criticised in a wrong way, and this book does a damn good job.
Rating: 4 / 5