On Photographs

Gain a new perspective on photography in this personally guided introduction to photographic images and what they mean by one of the leading writers and curators of our time

What shapes our response to a photograph? Where does the meaning we ascribe to it come from? And how important to our reading of it are the photographer’s intentions? In a dazzling example of photography writing – an exploration of the photographic medium through 120 images, some familiar, some surprising – David Campany shows us that how we think about photographs is just as important as what we think about them.

Rejecting the conventions of chronology and the heightened status afforded to ‘classics’ in traditional accounts of the history of the medium, Campany’s selection of photographs is an expertly curated and personal one – mixing fine art prints, film stills, documentary photographs, fashion editorials and advertisements. In this playful new take on the history of photography, anonymous photographers stand alongside photography pioneers, 20th-century talents and contemporary practitioners. Each photograph is accompanied by Campany’s highly readable commentary, which strives to guide the reader in their own interpretation and understanding of the image itself.

In a visual culture in which we have become accustomed to not looking, Campany helps us to see.

Contents List

Introduction • The Photographs • List of Works • Further Reading

About the Author

David Campany is a curator, writer and educator, based in London. His previous books include Walker Evans: The Magazine Work, The Open Road: Photography and the American Road Trip and A Handful of Dust, each of which was accompanied by an exhibition. Awards received by Campany include the ICP Infinity Award and The Kraszna-Kraus Book Award.