Conditions of Visibility

This book suggests that the 'single most important concept is that the photograph is a multiplicity of different things: a way of speaking, a way of showing, a recorded point of view, a piece of visible architecture, a force that is exerted on the viewer, a seduction, a coercion, an exercise of power that has an effect on how the self is fashioned.' Because of all these aspects it provides opportunities for struggle, resistance and change. He argues that photography and institutions that make use of the image as an integral part of their work in a modern culture. Towards this end, he discusses the different uses of photography in this book: advertisement, hoarding-painting, newsphotography, identification, documentary, and 'as a method of interrogating history.'

R. Srivatsan is an independent scholar. He works on contemporary visual culture and political theory in India.