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Book review by photo editor Guy Lane

Basic Critical Theory for Photographers
Ashley la Grange
Price: £16.99
Publisher: Focal Press
ISBN: 0-240-51652-4
Published: 15/7/2005
buy it now!

Guy Lane, assistant Picture Editor Business News at The Times (UK), reviews this new book from Focal Press. ........see below for the full review........

Photography escaped the scrutiny of British academics for most of the last century. It was not until artists, as opposed to photographers, began using the camera that cultural institutions were obliged, reluctantly, to pay attention to its possibilities.
A critical theory addressing photography emerged in the 1970’s, marking a thaw in official attitudes of disdain towards a practice that was acknowledged as a legitimate art form in Europe and the United States.

As part of this process photography theory gained ground in polytechnics and universities; and for two decades Britain produced arguably the most innovative and challenging studies of the subject. At its most arcane, the new discipline was a heady mix of diverse influences – structuralism, semiotics, Marxism and psychoanalysis, to name a few. This did not make for an easy read.

Ashley La Grange’s “Basic Critical Theory for Photographers” is an introduction, for “A” level students and the general reader, to some of the issues raised. Summaries of key texts are followed by thought-provoking questions and practical assignments. So, in note form, we have guides to: “Ways of Seeing” by John Berger, one of the first British critics to take photography seriously; the seminal “On Photography” by Susan Sontag; “In, Around and Afterthoughts” Martha Rosler’s interrogation of the ethics of documentary; the perennial “Camera Lucida” by Roland Barthes; and Andy Grundberg’s more recent discussion of post-modernism – “The Crisis of the Real”, amongst others. Other authors featured include Abigail Solomon-Godeau, Raghubir Singh, John Baldessari and Peter Godwin.

The texts are well chosen in that they address the two principal areas of interest to theoreticians - the conventions of photographic representation, and the wider social impact and effects of photography. La Grange has opted for authors who pitched their work at the interested, rather than specialist, reader. His summaries and questions help draw out the major themes, and problems, that characterise photography theory.

The purpose of education is to teach us what we do not know in a language we can understand, but structuralism - so the joke goes – teaches us what we knew all along in a language we can’t understand. It’s an old joke, but it hints at some of the complexities of trying to tackle critical theory. But it is worth making the effort - it can change the way we look at photographs.
Guy Lane
buy this book now! Basic Critical Theory for Photographers

Posted by Will
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