As part of the recent turn towards visual culture in French studies, photography has begun to receive increased attention from scholars in the field. This volume of eight orignial essays and an interview with the Director of one of France's leading photographic institutions (the Maison européenne de la photographie) provides a broad and inclusive account of the multiple manifestations of photography in contemporary French and francophone societies and cultures. Broad topics such as the cultural institutionalisation of photography, its connections to post-conceptual art, the tradtion of tableau, city photography, photography and cultural identity, and photobiography are considered. Reflecting a diverse array of  scholarly approaches and methodologies, the volume will appeal to visual culture specialists in French studies and cognate disciplines. It brings together art historical, socio-cultural, political, postcolonial and literary perspectives on the medium, spanning trends and developments from the 1970s to the present day.Key FeaturesA wide-ranging treatment of the multi-faceted reality of photography in French and francophone contextsAddresses individual photographers and writers (including Bruno Boudjelal, Stéphane Couturier, Raymond Depardon, Valerie Jouve and Roland Barthes, Sophie Calle, J.M.G. Le Clézio, Annie Ernaux, Hervé Guibert, Denis Roche)Includes an original interview iwht Jean-Luc Monterosso, Director of the Maison européenne de la photographie, ParisIncludes 15 colour and black/white illustrations

This book traces the nineteenth-century origins and rapid spread of the photographic author portrait. Innovatively exploring the combined socio-cultural, media- and photo-historical, and literary critical dynamics that shaped the trans- and intermedial production, uses, and reception of author portraits as exemplars of modern celebrity, it provides new perspectives on authorship as fundamentally shaped by photography. Based on extensive archival research, the book shows how photographic portraits of French authors were not mere visual appendages to their published works but significantly impacted on the (self-) presentation and reception of writers as cultural celebrities, through the unique affordances of the new medium.

This book traces the nineteenth-century origins and rapid spread of the photographic author portrait. Innovatively exploring the combined socio-cultural, media- and photo-historical, and literary critical dynamics that shaped the trans- and intermedial production, uses, and reception of author portraits as exemplars of modern celebrity, it provides new perspectives on authorship as fundamentally shaped by photography. Based on extensive archival research, the book shows how photographic portraits of French authors were not mere visual appendages to their published works but significantly impacted on the (self-) presentation and reception of writers as cultural celebrities, through the unique affordances of the new medium.

This book traces the nineteenth-century origins and rapid spread of the photographic author portrait. Innovatively exploring the combined socio-cultural, media- and photo-historical, and literary critical dynamics that shaped the trans- and intermedial production, uses, and reception of author portraits as exemplars of modern celebrity, it provides new perspectives on authorship as fundamentally shaped by photography. Based on extensive archival research, the book shows how photographic portraits of French authors were not mere visual appendages to their published works but significantly impacted on the (self-) presentation and reception of writers as cultural celebrities, through the unique affordances of the new medium.

Benjamin, Barthes and the Singularity of Photography presents two of the most important intellectual figures of the twentieth century in a new comparative light. Pursuing hitherto unexplored aspects of Benjamin's and Barthes's engagement with photography, it provides new interpretations of familiar texts and analyzes material which has only recently become available. It argues that despite the different historical, philosophical and cultural contexts of their work, Benjamin and Barthes engage with similar issues and problems that photography uniquely poses, including the relationship between the photograph and its beholder as a confrontation between self and other, and the dynamic relation between time, subjectivity, memory and loss. Each writer emphasizes the singular event of the photograph's apprehension and its ethical and existential aspects rooted in the power and poignancy of photographic images. Mapping the complex relationship between photographic history and theory, cultural criticism and autobiography, this book will be of considerable interest not only to historians and theorists of photography but also to scholars working in literary and cultural studies.

As part of the recent turn towards visual culture in French studies, photography has begun to receive increased attention from scholars in the field. This volume of eight orignial essays and an interview with the Director of one of France's leading photographic institutions (the Maison européenne de la photographie) provides a broad and inclusive account of the multiple manifestations of photography in contemporary French and francophone societies and cultures. Broad topics such as the cultural institutionalisation of photography, its connections to post-conceptual art, the tradtion of tableau, city photography, photography and cultural identity, and photobiography are considered. Reflecting a diverse array of  scholarly approaches and methodologies, the volume will appeal to visual culture specialists in French studies and cognate disciplines. It brings together art historical, socio-cultural, political, postcolonial and literary perspectives on the medium, spanning trends and developments from the 1970s to the present day.Key FeaturesA wide-ranging treatment of the multi-faceted reality of photography in French and francophone contextsAddresses individual photographers and writers (including Bruno Boudjelal, Stéphane Couturier, Raymond Depardon, Valerie Jouve and Roland Barthes, Sophie Calle, J.M.G. Le Clézio, Annie Ernaux, Hervé Guibert, Denis Roche)Includes an original interview iwht Jean-Luc Monterosso, Director of the Maison européenne de la photographie, ParisIncludes 15 colour and black/white illustrations

This book traces the nineteenth-century origins and rapid spread of the photographic author portrait. Innovatively exploring the combined socio-cultural, media- and photo-historical, and literary critical dynamics that shaped the trans- and intermedial production, uses, and reception of author portraits as exemplars of modern celebrity, it provides new perspectives on authorship as fundamentally shaped by photography. Based on extensive archival research, the book shows how photographic portraits of French authors were not mere visual appendages to their published works but significantly impacted on the (self-) presentation and reception of writers as cultural celebrities, through the unique affordances of the new medium.

This book traces the nineteenth-century origins and rapid spread of the photographic author portrait. Innovatively exploring the combined socio-cultural, media- and photo-historical, and literary critical dynamics that shaped the trans- and intermedial production, uses, and reception of author portraits as exemplars of modern celebrity, it provides new perspectives on authorship as fundamentally shaped by photography. Based on extensive archival research, the book shows how photographic portraits of French authors were not mere visual appendages to their published works but significantly impacted on the (self-) presentation and reception of writers as cultural celebrities, through the unique affordances of the new medium.

This book traces the nineteenth-century origins and rapid spread of the photographic author portrait. Innovatively exploring the combined socio-cultural, media- and photo-historical, and literary critical dynamics that shaped the trans- and intermedial production, uses, and reception of author portraits as exemplars of modern celebrity, it provides new perspectives on authorship as fundamentally shaped by photography. Based on extensive archival research, the book shows how photographic portraits of French authors were not mere visual appendages to their published works but significantly impacted on the (self-) presentation and reception of writers as cultural celebrities, through the unique affordances of the new medium.

Benjamin, Barthes and the Singularity of Photography presents two of the most important intellectual figures of the twentieth century in a new comparative light. Pursuing hitherto unexplored aspects of Benjamin's and Barthes's engagement with photography, it provides new interpretations of familiar texts and analyzes material which has only recently become available. It argues that despite the different historical, philosophical and cultural contexts of their work, Benjamin and Barthes engage with similar issues and problems that photography uniquely poses, including the relationship between the photograph and its beholder as a confrontation between self and other, and the dynamic relation between time, subjectivity, memory and loss. Each writer emphasizes the singular event of the photograph's apprehension and its ethical and existential aspects rooted in the power and poignancy of photographic images. Mapping the complex relationship between photographic history and theory, cultural criticism and autobiography, this book will be of considerable interest not only to historians and theorists of photography but also to scholars working in literary and cultural studies.