The Oxford Companion to the Photograph (Oxford Companions) - Tapa dura

The book is lavishly produced on high quality paper with an attractive layout. This is the most comprehensive and knowledgeable survey of the art of photography to have appeared and, at £40, its price less than half what I would have expected. This book deserves a place on the shelves of every serious photographer. (Graham Saxby FRPS. Royal Photographic Society Journal)

The scope is breathtaking...Despite its being a reference book, the Companion contains much excellent writing to lure readers into appreciating its literary merit...an invaluable book (Christopher Ondaatje, Times Higher Education Supplement)

Overall, I recommend this book strongly as a useful and wide-ranging reference source on photographers, photgraphic movements and styles. (Photographica World)

The explanations are excellent. Even some of the more technical terms are easy to understand and the short histories of many of the great photographers are an excellent entree into their lives and work. I shall be keeping a copy of this book close to my desk as I am sure that it will become a constant and reliable point of reference. (Ben Brain, Amateur Photographer)

It is a handsome volume, and a useful one.' (Paul Ryan, Art Quarterly)

The Oxford Companion is a massive, and massively ambitious, volume. Five years in the making, 800 pages long and containing more than 1600 entries by an impressive international array of academics, curators and independent critics, it is as comprehensive as you could hope from such a book. Its geographical scope is especially impressive.' (Brian Dillon, FT Magazine)

S00pendous...this is one of the most lavish and exquisitely printed volumes I think I have ever seen, and practially a work of art in itself. Several things set this Companion apart from other reference books. The most strikingis the sheer breadth of its range. There are the plates...every one of them good enough to eat.' (Katie Hickman, Literary Review)

Extravagant in size, exorbitant in price, too many photography books contradict the century-long drift of the art towards lightness and spontaneity. Sometimes, however, quality justifies bulk, as with the landmark Oxford Companion to the Photograph Written with all the authority and illustrated with the breadth you would hope for from its patronm this grand slab ranks alongside its definitive Oxford stablemates. (Boyd Tonkin, The Independent)

Informative and neatly designed dictionary/guide to the history and art of taking pictures. (Prudence Hone, The Guardian)

Unique, totally relevant, and helps define a medium (Ralph Gibson)

This is the first Oxford Companion to deal with the subject of photography. It appears at a watershed in the medium's history, as digital imaging increasingly dominates the global photography scene at both amateur and professional levels. In addition to a wide range of technical information, the book encapsulates in concise and readily accessible form the mass of recent scholarship on photography as a social and artistic practice, organized both thematically and geographically. There are over 800 biographical entries, both on photographers and on other individuals who have significantly influenced photographic culture from the early 19th century to the present. The book's scope is worldwide. The international team of contributors is made up of leading authorities in their fields, and include: Heather Angel, Sylvie Aubenas, Quentin Bajac, Marta Braun, Clement Cheroux, Elizabeth Edwards, John Falconer, Colin Ford, Ron Graham, Sarah Greenough, Mark Haworth-Booth, Roger Hicks, Paul Hill, Jens Jaeger, Jan-Erik Lundstrom, Naomi Rosenblum, Rolf Sachsse, Martha Sandweiss, Graham Saxby, Joan Schwartz, Sara Stevenson, Roger Taylor, Regine Thiriez, John Ward, Liz Wells, and Mike Ware. The book is extensively illustrated and includes many pictures never before published. The majority of the 1600-plus entries include suggestions for further reading. But the work's usefulness is further enhanced by the inclusion of an extensive bibliography, a chronology of photographic history, a list of important websites, and an index of people.