For Subject searches try:
Camera Lucida by
This personal, wide-ranging, and contemplative volume--and the last book Barthes published--finds the author applying his influential perceptiveness and associative insight to the subject of photography. To this end, several black-and-white photos (by the likes of Avedon, Clifford, Hine, Mapplethorpe, Nadar, Van Der Zee, and so forth) are reprinted throughout the text.
Mythologies by 
Photography in Print by Women have made significant contributions to photography since its inception. Here are some artists to browse:
Photo by Alex Slade, Assistant Chair, Fine Arts
The Contest of Meaning by
14 essays discuss the development of photography, and how it promotes class and national interests. With over 200 illustrations, it critically examines prevailing beliefs about the medium and suggest new ways to explain the history of photography. They are organized around the questions: What are the social consequences of aesthetic practice? How does photography construct sexual difference? How is photography used to promote class and national interests? What are the politics of photographic truth?
A New History of Photography by
A collection of entries that help chronicle the history of photography, explaining the different techniques that have been used and defining the common terms used in the field.
Photography Is Magic by
Photography Is Magic draws together current ideas about the use of photography as an invaluable medium in the contemporary art world. Edited and with an essay by Charlotte Cotton, this critical publication surveys over eighty artists, all of whom are engaged with experimental ideas concerning photographic practice, as the contemporary landscape is currently being reshaped through digital techniques. We are shown the scope of photographic possibilities in the context of the contemporary creative process. From Michele Abeles and Walead Beshty to Daniel Gordon and Matt Lipps, Cotton has selected artists who are consciously reframing photographic practices using mixed media, appropriation, and a recalibration of analog processes. Photography Is Magic provides the reader with an engaging physical experience and is designed for younger photo aficionados, students, and anyone interested in gaining a deeper understanding of contemporary photography.
Photography As Fiction by
Photography is commonly associated with fact, yet it has been a medium for fiction from the very beginning. Following its inception in 1839, artists began exploring photography's enormous potential for storytelling and often went to great lengths to create pictures for the camera. The tradition of staging persisted as an artistic approach into the twentieth century and took on new meaning in the context of advertising, film, and television. This book's short introductory essay summarizes the history of staged photography, highlighting key debates that center on the seeming contradiction between the medium's blunt factuality and its capacity for deception. Photography as Fiction includes seventy-six color plates illustrating works from the J. Paul Getty Museum's collection that embrace theatricality and are unconcerned with documenting the world as it exists. The book showcases works by both widely known and less prominent artists, including Julia Margaret Cameron, Lewis Carroll, Jo Ann Callis, Eileen Cowin, Roger Fenton, Gertrude K#65533;sebier, Loretta Lux, Man Ray, Ralph Eugene Meatyard, Yasumasa Morimura, Paul Outerbridge, Henry Peach Robinson, Lucas Samaras, Alfred Stieglitz, Andy Warhol, and Carrie Mae Weems.
The Photography Book by
500 superb images represent the world's best photographers and encompass every sort of photography in this eye-catching and engrossing book. Pictures of famous events such as the Royal Wedding and the first landing on the moon are here, next to familiar shots by masters of photography such as Bill Brandt, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Cecil Beaton and Robert Doisneau. There is fashion, sport, natural history, reportage and society portraiture, as well as social documentary and art. The 500 photographers featured range from William Henry Fox Talbot and Julia Margaret Cameron to Larry Clarke and Herb Ritts, from Robert Capa and Josef Koudelka to Nan Goldin and Pierre et Gilles. Arranged alphabetically by photographer, each full-page image is accompanied by an illuminating text which gives a useful insight into the work and its creator, as well as extensive cross-references to others working in the same field or the same style. Glossaries of technical terms and movements and a directory of museums and galleries are included to provide a fully comprehensive and self-contained volume.
Photography: a Critical Introduction by
Photography: A Critical Introduction was the first introductory textbook to examine key debates in photographic theory and place them in their social and political contexts, and is now established as one of the leading textbooks in its field. Written especially for students in higher education and for introductory college courses, this fully revised edition provides a coherent introduction to the nature of photographic seeing. Individual chapters cover: Key debates in photographic theory and history Documentary photography and photojournalism Personal and popular photography Photography and the human body Photography and commodity culture Photography as art This revised and updated fifth edition includes: New case studies on topics such as: materialism and embodiment, the commodification of human experience, and an extended discussion of landscape as genre. 98 photographs and images, featuring work from: Bill Brandt, Susan Derges, Rineke Dijkstra, Fran Herbello, Hannah H#65533;ch, Karen Knorr, Dorothea Lange, Chrystel Lebas, Susan Meiselas, Lee Miller, Martin Parr, Ingrid Pollard, Jacob Riis, Alexander Rodchenko, Andres Serrano, Cindy Sherman and Jeff Wall. Fully updated resource information, including guides to public archives and useful websites. A full glossary of terms and a comprehensive bibliography. Contributors: Michelle Henning, Patricia Holland, Derrick Price, Anandi Ramamurthy and Liz Wells.
In addition to the many fine arts magazines that cover fine arts photography, the following are dedicated to Photography.
American Photo
Aperture
Blindspot
Zoom
The Vogue Archive has the entire full issues of every Vogue Magazine since it was first published in the late 1800s. You can search for photographers as well as advertising and designers.
Encyclopedias are an excellent beginning way to find good background information. Oxford Art Online is an excellent academic online encyclopedia. Movements -- like Bauhaus and Postmodernism -- will be defined, sometimes in great detail. But don't expect every photographer to be listed there. Sometimes a print version subject-specific encyclopedia or biographical dictionary, such as Contemporary Photographers, and American Photographs, will include more. These are located in the TR section of the Reference area of the Library.
Art Source is an excellent database which broadly covers art, photography, and design periodicals. It's available through the link to Databases on all Library web pages.
Once you get a list of hits, look at them carefully. You can determine a lot simply by reading the titles. Sometimes you will see an indication about the content of the article, such as that it is an exhibition review. Obituaries are generally not critical, but they are often good summations of an artist's career. Ignore the book reviews and reproductions. Those won't help. Notice that the page numbers are listed. Longer articles will probably be more in-depth. Also, notice if there is an author listed. Reviews by known writers are preferable.
Many databases include "full-text" articles. Although originally published in print, it means that the actual article is reproduced there in plain text or a PDF version. Lucky you. You can read the articles on screen, email them to yourself, or print them.
One problematic aspect about databased articles is that you don't see them in the context of the full magazine. Unless you look at the actual original print version, you may have difficulty evaluating the publication. As design students, it's a good idea to become familiar with as many of these periodicals as you can, so do have a look at some of these magazines on the shelves.
You can't always find everything online in full-text.
When you need to locate the print version of a periodical, you can use the Otis collection of back issues, which includes hundreds of bound volumes. Some are in the Stacks and some in the Annex, which requires paging. Some databases have a link by to the Otis holdings or OPAC. Or you can look in Library's Magazine Holdings List.
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