The "public" life of photographs

"Through a broad range of case studies, the contributors to this volume highlight the historical conditions under which photographs have been made available to the public: in books, magazines, photographic studios, courtrooms, libraries, touring exhibitions, and art galleries. The collected essays focus on those responsible for the dissemination of images, their belief in the power of the photographic medium, the goals they pursued, and the constraints they faced. Addressing the multiple rather than the unique photograph, stressing collective practices of image sharing, and examining the mobility of photographs from one context to another, this book pursues avenues of research in the history of photography that remain surprisingly underexplored"-- "The “Public” Life of Photographs features nine essays by Geoffrey Batchen, Nathalie Boulouch, Heather Diack, André Gunthert, Sophie Hackett, Vincent Lavoie, Olivier Lugon, Mary Panzer and Joel Snyder. These contributors - international curators and scholars from a range of disciplines - examine the emergence of photography as mass culture: through studios and public spaces; by the press; through editorial strategies promoting popular and vernacular photography; and through the dissemination of photographic images in the art world.The book is edited by Thierry Gervais, Head of Research at the Ryerson Image Centre, and an Assistant Professor at Ryerson University"--Publisher's website, viewed November 9, 2016.