Four Arts of Photography: An Essay in Philosophy (New Directions in Aesthetics) - Hardcover

In Four Arts of Photography, Dominic McIver Lopes explores the history of photography through the lens of philosophy and proposes a new scholarly understanding of the art form for the 21st century. Art lovers and critics have been captivated by photography since its invention, but they have also been plagued by questions about its seriousness, meaning, and truthfulness. Here Lopes reexamines the history of art photography through four major photographic movements. He discusses several individual images in detail and alternates a top-down, theory to case approach with a bottom-up, case to theory approach. He references influential primary sources as well as the reception of important art works by art critics. Also included are two commentaries by top philosophers of photography, Diarmuid Costello and Cynthia A. Freeland, who enhance and extend the scholarly conversation that Lopes begins. Covering the full range of contemporary photographic art in a systematic way, this book advances a new theory of the nature of photography that is grounded in technology but refuses to place this most enigmatic art form in opposition to painting.