American Photography

by Miles Orvell

150 years of American photography come alive in this exciting new book, placing it in its cultural context for the first time. Orvell examines this fascinating subject through a wide range of well known and less-well known images. He ranges from portraiture and landscape photography, family
albums and memory, and analyses the particularly 'American' way in which American photographers have viewed the world around them.

Orvell combines a clear overview of the changing nature of photographic thinking and practice in this period with an exploration of key concepts. The result is the first coherent history of American photography, which examines issues such as the nature of photographic exploitation, experimental
techniques, the power of the photograph to shock, and whether we should subscribe to the notion of a visual history.

Genres: Photography, Art, Art History, Nonfiction

256 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

Miles Orvell is Professor of English & American Studies at Temple University in Philadelphia. His publications have ranged from literary criticism to broader studies of American culture. His early book on Flannery O'Connor was followed by The Real Thing: Imitation and Authenticity in American Culture, 1880-1940 (1989), a study of technology and culture that was co-winner of the ASA's John Hope Franklin Prize (reissued in a Twenty-fifth Anniversary Edition). The Death and Life of Main Street: Small Towns in American Memory, Space, and Community (2012) was a Finalist for the Zócalo Public Square Book Prize for Best Book Published on Community and Social Cohesion, 2013. Orvell's Empire of Ruins: American Culture, Photography, and the Spectacle of Destruction was published by Oxford University Press in early 2021.

In addition, he is the author of After the Machine: Visual Arts and the Erasing of Cultural Boundaries (1995) and of American Photography (2003) in the Oxford History of Art Series. (Expanded and revised in 2016 as Photography in America.) Orvell has edited the volume, John Vachon's America: Photographs and Letters from the Depression to World War II (2003) and he has co-edited Public Place and the Ideology of Space in America (2009) and Rethinking the American City: An International Dialogue (2013). He was the founding editor-in-chief of the Encyclopedia of American Studies (American Studies Association--print and online), from 1998 to 2011. He is the recipient of several NEH awards and of the Bode-Pearson Prize in American Studies for lifetime achievement. In 2010, he received one of the University’s “Great Teacher” awards.

Reviews

[Katherine Cowley · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent book taking a thematic approach to explore the history of American photography. I wasn't reading to remember the details, but I feel I learned a lot about the purpose of photography, its multiplicity of uses, and how it's changed over time. It has also forced (in a good way) me to reconsider the role the image plays in my life.

[Kathe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent read! Orvell does a great job of demonstrating the influence photography had, and STILL has on shaping American culture.

[M E L I · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another book finished for my paper and I quite liked this one. It was easy to read, the information was bundled in a clear and straightforward manner. I liked the way everything was split into short sub-chapters that were backed up with additional information. And the corresponding photographs and photographers were incorporated perfectly!

Call me expert on American photography now!

[Yvonne]

Great start for a book on American Photography.
No Sternfeld, no Shore, no Maier, no pictures of the Wounded Knee Massacre, no picture of the first nuclear test by Jack Aeby, etc. etc. the book is 250 pages short - maybe 500, at the least.

[Kyra]

Super informative in both the practical and philosophical history and retrospective on American photography. Definitely will turn back to this.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some really good insight about how to look at a photograph and some interesting notions of genre. The social history/context was sometimes off, which seemed to be a function of Britishness. The last chapters also seemed really dated, and this edition is only 12 years old. That probably says more about the current pace of change in image making and meaning than anything else. A nice primer.

[Bud · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent introduction, situating American photography within broader cultural contexts.