Photography: The Whole Story is a celebration of the most beautiful, meaningful and inspiring photographs that have arisen from this very modern medium. It begins with a succinct overview of photography, placing it in the context of the social and cultural developments that have taken place globally since its arrival. Organized chronologically, the book then traces the rapid evolution of photographic style, period by period and movement by movement. Illustrated, in-depth essays cover every photographic genre, from the early portraits and tableaux to the digitally manipulated montages, split-second sports images, and conceptual photographs of today. The ideas and works of key photographers are assessed to reveal what motivated them, who influenced whom, and what each was striving to achieve. Detailed cultural and individual artist timelines clarify historical context.

Photography, both in the form of contemporary practice and that of historical material, now occupies a significant place in the citadels of Western art culture. It has an institutional network of its own, embedded within the broader art world, with its own specialists including critics, curators, collectors, dealers and conservators. All of this cultural activity consolidates an artistic practice and critical discourse of photography that distinguishes what is increasingly termed 'art photography' from its commercial, scientific and amateur guises. But this long-awaited recognition of photography as high art brings new challenges. How will photography's newly privileged place in the art world affect how the history of creative photography is written? Modernist claims for the medium as having an aesthetic often turned on precedents from painting. Postmodernism challenged a cultural hierarchy organized around painting. Nineteenth-century photographs move between the symbolic spaces of the gallery wall and the archive: de-contextualized for art and re-contextualized for history. But what of the contemporary writings, images, and practices that negotiated an aesthetic status for 'the photographic'? Photography and the Arts revisits practices both celebrated and elided by the modernist and postmodernist grand narratives of art and photographic history in order to open up new critical spaces. Written by leading scholars in the fields of photography, art and literature, the book examines the metaphorical as well as the material exchanges between photography and the fine, graphic, reproductive and sculptural arts.

The first part of this essential handbook provides an art-business analysis of the market for art photography and explains how to navigate it; the second is an art-historical account of the evolution of art photography from a marginal to a core component of the international fine-art scene. In tracing the emergence of a robust art-world sub-system for art photography, sustaining both significant art-world presence and strong trade, the book shows the solid foundations on which today's international market is built, examines how that market is evolving, and points to future developments. This pioneering handbook is a must-read for scholars, students, curators, dealers, photographers, private collectors and institutional buyers, and other arts professionals.

While certain photographs have become world-famous images indelibly printed on the cultural consciousness, the stories on the other side of the lens have been all too often distorted, obfuscated or overlooked, the social and political environments misunderstood or forgotten. By evoking the lives and backgrounds of nearly forty great photographers, Juliet Hacking also brings new light to their work, forging a greater understanding of each photographic pioneer. In addition, many rarely seen portraits and self-portraits are brought to light. Seen together, these entries form a holistic examination that, while drawing attention to the contributions of each individual, adroitly guides the reader through the major innovations, movements and developments in the history of photography with authority, dexterity and zeal. Bound in a single compact and portable volume, Lives of the Great Photographers is one of those rare examples where engaging reading meets beau livre.