The Photograph as Contemporary Art

Invented nearly two centuries ago as a documentary instrument, photography has since evolved into an expressive medium and now occupies a place in the art system on equal terms with painting and sculpture.

Charlotte Cotton’s book reveals the most important aspects of contemporary art photography exemplified by the history of around 250 artists — both established masters, such as Isa Genzken, Jeff Wall, and Sophie Calle, and emerging talents, including Walead Beshty, Jason Evans, and Lucas Blalock among others.

“My first encounters with photography were through my parents, who are furniture historians and had a photo studio at home. I loved the precision and drama of the photo shoot, even when the subject was just a chair! My dad took me to see an exhibition of pre-Revolution Russian photography at Oxford’s MoMA when I was a teenager. This was when I fell in love with photography”.