Abstract
The subtitle of this book is indicative of its focus. Neither an anthology of critics' writings nor a rote history of technology, Photography and Its Critics examines the ways in which the idea of photography was understood and the early debates over its "contested meanings." Mary Warner Marien sorts out the bewildering tangle of allusions and undertakings associated with the crucial first decades of the history of photography, recounting the relationships among the inventors contesting for primacy. In so doing she [End Page 382] revises the importance of photography's worthy predecessors, Thomas Wedgwood and Humphry Davy. We are reminded that this "was the epoch of the entrepreneur, the virtuoso, the arriviste" (p. 16). François Arago, the politician-statesman who shrewdly promoted Daguerre, claimed the invention as a national achievement. Soon after, the French government hosted all manner of patriotic documentary projects.
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
