cover image Photography Today

Photography Today

Mark Durden. Phaidon, $75 (464p) ISBN 978-0-7148-4563-0

In this utterly absorbing volume, Durden (Dorothea Lange) examines the impact of over 100 photographers who have risen to prominence since the 1960s. Artfully divided into 11 chapters%E2%80%94covering topics including the rise of copying and appropriation, faces and masks, color photography, street photography, landscapes, atrocities, the body, documentary, and the self%E2%80%94each chapter provides insight into how these photographers fit into a larger whole. The final chapter, "Photography Tomorrow," deals with the death of film and the mass proliferation of digital representation, a phenomenon beautifully represented in Kessels's "24 Hrs in Photos," in which the photographer filled a gallery with 350,000 photos uploaded to Flickr in a 24-hour period. All major artists and movements are represented, from Arbus and Winogrand, to Mann, Struth, Calle, and Gursky (along with many lesser-known photographers), though the omission of Alec Soth and John Gossage in such a comprehensive book is surprising. Durden's considerable research can be seen in the biographies and the book's index. With precise and accessible prose, and stunning design, this volume masterfully surveys the last half-century of this art form. 350 color, 150 b&w illus. (May)