Photography: A Middle-Brow Art - Softcover

S. (trans) Bourdieu, P. Et Al And Whiteside

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0745617158 ISBN 13: 9780745617152

Publisher: Polity Press, 1996

Synopsis

The everyday practice of photography by millions of amateur photographers may seem to be a spontaneous and highly personal activity. but France's leading sociologist and cultural theorist Pierre Bourdieu and his research associates show that few cultural activities are more structural and systematic than photography. This perceptive and wide-ranging analysis of the practice of photography reveals the logic implicit in this cultural field. For some social groups, photography is primarily a means of preserving the present and reproducing moments of collective celebration, whereas for other groups it is the occasion of an aesthetic judgment in which photos are endowed with the dignity of works of art. Bourdieu and his associates examine the socially differentiated forms of photographic practice by drawing on the results of surveys and interviews and by analyzing the attitudes and characteristics of both amateur and professional photographers.

About this title

From the Back Cover:

“It is one of only a few studies to apply the results of surveys and interviews to form an analysis from a social perspective. It is also important because it reveals aspects of Bourdieu’s theories at an early stage.”—Choice
“The significance of Bourdieu’s work for American studies lies in his powerful argument about the social definitions of popular aesthetics. His insistence that even the most trivial photographs serve social functions can be extended beyond photography and, thus, should be of interest to any student of popular culture.”—American Quarterly

About the Author:

Pierre Bourdieu is Professor of Sociology at the Collège de France and Director of the Center for European Sociology at the École de Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales.

About this edition

• Publisher: Polity Press
• Publication date: 1996
• ISBN 10: 0745617158
• ISBN 13: 9780745617152
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 232