cover image The World Atlas of Street Photography

The World Atlas of Street Photography

Jackie Higgins. Yale Univ., $45 (400pp) ISBN 978-0-300-20716-3

The long shared history of photography and urbanity arrives at an exciting contemporary (and international) moment through this vibrant volume. Arranged into global regions and then further segmented into urban centers, the book becomes both an exploration of place and of contemporary photography. Brief introductions to the most dominant cities chart the specifics of photographic development within it, then give way to several-page considerations of contemporary practitioners. Street photography is defined inclusively, allowing that reportage and conceptual works all find comfortable homes in the art form as it is defined, Nikki S. Lee's projects of public performance art in New York City receiving the same consideration as Nontsikelelo Veleko's Johannesburg-based fashion photography. The images are beautiful, produced with the same vibrant attention that the text directs toward each celebrated photographer. It is rare for collections like this to pull off such simultaneous breadth and depth, yet this resource of over 100 artists succeeds, edifying and captivating throughout. Color illus. (Sept.)