Photography and Literature

(Paperback)

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Description

Photography and Literature assess the complete history of photography, and Brunet begins by examining how the invention of photography was shaped by written culture, both scientific and literary. As well, Brunet looks at the creation of the photo-book, the frequent personal discovery of photography by writers, and how photography and literature eventually began to trade tools and merge formats to create a new photo-textual genre.

Reviews

Brunets beautifully illustrated study shows how, starting with the British pioneer William Fox Talbot, photography has shed this aura of objectivity to become a medium of individual expression. Today, photography is thenew muse of literatureand it subverts the very reality its images were once thought to reflect with such veracity. * The Guardian *
It is the scope and enthusiasm with which Photography and Literature connects the literary impulse with photographys vision of the world that makes this book a welcome addition. * Source magazine *
It is extremely rare to discover a book that has such a profound knowledge of the Continental as well as the Anglo-Saxon traditions and history and that is so open to their respective cultures and sensibilities . . . Brunets book is innovative and insightful, and it helps clear the ground for a new approach of a much-debated issue. One can only hope that it will be widely read and discussed, both inside the field of photography studies and outside it, in the broader field of intermediality studies, and become rapidly a modern classic. * History of Photography *
This sumptuously illustrated volume . . . examines the shifting relationship between literature and photography from the latters invention in 1939 up to the present . . . a fascinating overview of the prolonged cultural encounters between visual and verbal texts and has the value of guiding the reader towards more specialized studies of this crucially important subject. * Modern Language Review *
As Brunet skillfully negotiates more than 150 years of photographic history, he offers a coherent argument for the emergence of photography as a kind of writing, with possibilities for narrative and fiction that exceed its promise to capture the world as it is. * The Wilson Quarterly *
There is much to praise in François Brunets recent book, Photography and Literature, not least being the intellectual courage and verve of the undertaking itself. Its a daring book. The topic, immense and inchoate, at once invites and defies investigation . . . Brunets compelling book puts such challenging thoughts into motion, a handsome and significant achievement. * Transatlantica *
an excellent and thought-provoking read. * Metapsycology *

Author Bio

Franois Brunet is Professor of American Art and Literature at the University Paris Diderot - Paris 7, and is author of La Naissance de l'ide de photographie (2000), co-editor of Images in the West: Survey Photographs in French Collections, 1860-1880 (2007), and a regular contributor to journals, including Transatlantica, Etudes Photographiques and Aperture.