The Bible in Photography: Index, Icon, Tableau, Vision

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Description

Sheona G. Beaumont addresses the untold story of biblical subjects in photography. She argues that stories, characters, and symbols from the Bible are found to pervade photographic practices and ideas, across the worlds of advertising and selfies, the book and the gallery, in theoretical discourse and in newspaper reviews. Beaumont engages interpretative tools from biblical reception studies, art history, and visual culture criticism in order to present four terms for describing photographys latent spirituality: the index, the icon, the tableau, and the vision. Throughout her journey she includes lively discussion of selected fine art photography dealing with the Bible in surprising ways, from images by William Henry Fox Talbot in the 19th century to Damien Hirst in the 21st. Far from telling a secular story, photography and its conceptualisation is exposed in theological depth; Beaumont skillfully interweaves discussion of the images and theology, arguing for the dynamic and potent voice of the Bible in photography and enriching visual culture criticism with a renewed religious understanding.

Author Bio

Sheona G. Beaumont is Bishop Otter Scholar for Theology and the Arts, Diocese of Chichester, UK, and Visiting Research Fellow at Kings College London, UK.