スナップ、タブロイド紙、アートギャラリーなど、日々の生活の中ですでに欠くことのできない存在となっている写真。本書はその発展の歴史を繙きながら、文化としての写真の重要性、その役割、意味などについて探ります。また「真実と記録」「客観性か芸術性か」といった、写真にまつわる議論についても検証しています。
    

• A clear, lively, and imaginative approach to the definition, importance, and meaning of photography
• Challenges readers' notions about the definition of photography, and why it is such an important part of our cultural life
• Includes both well-known and more unusual photographs, from the highly controversial Cottingley Fairies photograph to Ansel Adams landscapes, and from the shocking and influential Eddie Adams image of a Vietcong suspect being executed to the portrait work of Cindy Sherman.

   
Photographs are an integral part of our daily lives from sensationalist images in tabloid papers and snapshots, to art photograpy displayed in galleries and sold through international art markets. In this thought-provoking exploration of the subject, Edwards combines a sense of the historical development of photography with an analysis of its purpose and meaning within a wider cultural context. He interrogates the way we look and think about photographs, and considers such issues as truth and recording, objectivity and fine art, identity and memory.