From the first nebulous “heliograph” taken by Joseph Nicéphore Niépce in 1826 to the classic compositions of Cartier-Bresson and Alfred Stieglitz and the formidable postmodern strategies of Robert Mapplethorpe, Cindy Sherman and Victor Burgin, the history of photography is an extraordinary succession of acute and penetrating images. But how does one “read” a photograph? In a series of incisive examinations of the most relevant themes and genres, Graham Clarke clearly and effectively presents the historical development of photography and illustrates the thinking of the most interesting critics on the subject, including Roland Barthes and Susan Sontag. The book centres on an innovative analysis of the main themes involved, landscape, the city, the portrait, the body and reportage, and on a meticulous study of exemplary images in light of their respective cultural and ideological contexts.