A World History of Photography Hardcover – January 29, 2008

This is an extremely well written book on the history of photography, and lavishly illustrated with reproductions of photographs over the entire span of the medium. Rosenblum is very knowledgeable, and has a subtle sense of humor demonstrated in various comments throughout the text. The writing has frequent footnote references for interested readers, but they are not distracting since the actual references are placed all together at the end of the book. I would recommend this book to those interested in reading a comprehensive overview of photography, or for those who are just interested in an excellent reference.

If you want to be a great photographer you need to know it's history. See where others have walked so you can stand on their shoulders to reach anew horizon. It book has been in a lot of college photo history classes as a bible of sorts. I find by looking back I get new ideas as the direction I want my photography to go in. By looking at works of art you can raise your own talents in photography and take it to an even higher level. It gives you ideas and visions. So when you are out shooting, you can look for images to take and not just recording what you see, but making it happen for the camera. I found the book to very useful in that regard.

The updated and largely expanded work by Professor Naomi Rosenblum, I share with colleagues globally. I continues what the late preeminent historian and curator, Beaumont Newhall began at the Museum of Modern Art in 1937, in the form of the first 100 year exhibition of the medium. After he began, he continued to build upon the global research in further editions, encouraging others to add further in the future. Rosenblum's further developments and research continue to add significantly the field in many ways. It is a key reference for the art of photography by any standard.

The 3rd edition of this book, published in 1997, is a popular textbook for college art history classes and is held by many libraries. The hardcover 4th edition published in 2007, whose ISBN-13 is 9780789209467, has a similar dust jacket and is also 9"x12" (but has 712 pages, as opposed to the previous edition's 695). Both editions are visually attractive and informative.Overall, the 4th edition improves upon the 3rd only somewhat. The chapter numbers and names, and the titles of the interspersed sections on notable topics and technical histories, are unchanged. I leafed through the 3rd and 4th editions, and chapters 1-10 have no significant differences. In other words, recent trends and findings in the history of photography prior to 1950 have been omitted. I would have liked to see at least mention of more old photobooks (e.g., Moi Ver's 1931 "Paris," Brodovitch's 1945 "Ballet," and Heisler & Styrsky's 1945 "On the Needles of These Days"), interest in which has increased this decade, and a sentence or two on the 2002 discovery of an 1825 photo by Niepce.Chapters 11 ("Photography Since 1950: The Straight Image" and 12 ("Photography Since 1950: Manipulations and Color") on pages 516-629 were only moderately revised compared with the 1997 edition. I count 2 photos dropped from the old edition and 11 new photos. Changes in the text include addition of some female, non-Western, and contemporary male photographers; more material on "Digital Imaging" on pages 620-625; and a couple new paragraphs on "The Market for Photographs" on page 625.The current edition has slightly revised text on pages 630-631 about "Digital Image-Making," a new afterword on pages 639-641, an updated time line on pages 655-660, a glossary on pages 661-665 now with terms related to digital imaging, and references as recent as 2007 on pages 666-683.I could find only a few mistakes (e.g., "Todd" instead of "Tod" Papageorge on page 527, "Miquel" instead of "Miguel" Rio Branco on page 547, and limitations of definitions of "burning" and "dodging" on pages 661-2 to only digital techniques). The numbering of figures on pages 630-640 is incorrect (should be 816-828, not 808-819 and 816). A number of major 20th-century photographers (e.g., Ralph Gibson, Jeff Wall, and Francesca Woodman) were excluded, which is unfortunate. There is no mention of "paparazzi" or "Photoshop" (in specific, not just the general discussion of software on page 631); for better or for worse, both of these have influenced the history of photography.In summary, if you have the 3rd edition, there's little reason to obtain this one. If you don't have the 3rd edition, or if you have the 3rd but want some updates in the material on the 1950s and beyond, buy this book from Amazon.com!

It has good quality and clear print of masters' works.And really settle my knowledge learning problem. I like Edward Stiechen, Julia Marget Cameran and Alfred Stieglitz.Especially Stiechen's works, it's dramatic lighting and really fine art effect ;P I love them !

If you are taking a history of photography class or simply are interested in photography and the history of it, this is the book for you. I got this when I was taking a history of photography class, and I was amazed at how much history was in this book. There are also plenty of photos that go along with the history.

Yes!!! Every thing perfect! Done need to return early please send me info on return!! Super wonderful great service

Well, I have to say that the author is an excellent researcher. Although she concentrates mainly on the creative and artistic sides of photography, the technical aspects are also presented, albeit briefly. I know this book is used as a textbook in several schools, and the problem I have is that it reads like one. While perusing this work, I couldn't help feeling that I was back in college, cramming for a final exam, rather than being taken on a journey through photographic history. In other words, the author's writing style is a tad dry. The facts are all there, and the pictures are wonderful, but she never seems to convey the emotion or feelings of the events. So, if you want something to study, this is it. If you want something to read and enjoy, I'd go elswhere.

It was for school, it arrived in good condition and it did it's job.

Si tratta di un testo adottato in molti corsi di fotografia negli Stati Uniti. Come molti testi di storia, anche non della fotografia, si ferma ad alcuni decenni fa e va quindi integrato per il periodo successivo. La parte prettamente storica e quella tecnica sono articolate in più sezioni separate; a mio avviso in molti casi la lettura delle sezioni tecniche dovrebbe precedere quella delle parti storiche.

This is a must read for anyone interested in the history of photography. Well written, lots of pictures, very comprehensive, and good reproduction quality of the pictures (even in the soft cover version).

Le livre mantien çe qu'il promet, et ne se limite pas seulemente a l'histoire officielle de l'Europe et des USA, mais il donne beaucoup d'informations pour les autres pays. L'auteur, à travers d'un texte simple et claire, donne tous détails possibles pour permettre de comprendre l'importance de cette "art poeuvre" et sa evolution dans l'histoire mondiale des derniers deux siécles. Et elles n'oublie pas les connections avec des autres arts, et des autres expressions culturelles. Un achat precieus, que je tiens à la portée de mon table de travail.

Brand new, cheaper than every other source very pleased with this purchase.