The Picture History of Photography

More than 600 of the world’s most notable photographs are reproduce in this unique volume… there [are] photographs [of] astonishing achievements made with the most primitive equipment at the very birth of an art; fantasies and curiosities that show More…how photographers extended their medium; ‘shots’ that have preserved the look and atmosphere of the pre-atomic world with its costumes, its manners, its houses, its daily life; a veritable portrait gallery of memorable personalities.

After describing the speculations of visionaries of centuries ago, the book follows every important development in the history of photography, from the daguerreotypes of Daguerre and paper negative prints of Fox Talbot to the fine-grained images of the present day. Chief emphasis, however, is on the great photographs made by the most inspired cameramen, each using the process available at his own time.

Each of these major figures is the subject of a ‘profile’ and a display of about ten of his [her] best photos. Included are…Daguerre, Stieglitz, and Brassai, with their street scenes; Hill and Adamson, Julia Margaret Cameron, Nadar, Steichen, and Karsh with their portraits; the historic pictures of Fenton (Crimean War), Brady (Civil War), and Duncan (Korean War); O’Sullivan, Jackson, Weston, and Adams, with majestic nature scenes; Atget, Riis, Hine, Genthe, and Roy Stryker’s F.S.A. group, with the documentary photographs; the photojournalism of Dr. Erich Salomon, Margaret Bourke-White, Eisenstaedt, and Cartier-Bresson; the beginnings of stop-motion photography by Muybridge, Eakins, and Eastman; experimental and abstract photography by Moholy-Nagy, Kepes, Callahan, and Siskind; humor by Doisneau; color by Haas, Siegel, Elisofan, and Kessel.’