The "public" life of photographs

Abstract

"Through a broad range of case studies, the contributors to this volume highlight the historical conditions under which photographs have been made available to the public: in books, magazines, photographic studios, courtrooms, libraries, touring exhibitions, and art galleries. The collected essays focus on those responsible for the dissemination of images, their belief in the power of the photographic medium, the goals they pursued, and the constraints they faced. Addressing the multiple rather than the unique photograph, stressing collective practices of image sharing, and examining the mobility of photographs from one context to another, this book pursues avenues of research in the history of photography that remain surprisingly underexplored."--