Lee Miller (1907-77) was not only one of the great beauties of the twentieth century but one of its remarkable photographic artists, performing with brilliance on both sides of the camera. Miller conceived many Surrealist-inspired photographs of haunting originality; she was a portraitist of genius and an inspired and daring war photographer.
Photography was described by its British inventor, W.H.F. Talbot, as 'the Pencil of Nature'. The medium used the laws of chemistry and physics to create superbly detailed descriptions of the material world that far surpassed all the earlier graphic media. Objects were photography's earliest subject.
Both a history of photography and a guide to appreciating fine photographs, this book is also a remarkable history of photography's changing status as a collectable medium. It covers photographs taken between 1839 and 1996 from the Victoria and Albert Museum.
Benjamin Brecknell Turner remains one of the greatest British amateur photographers. He produced some of the finest photographs of rural England. Between 1852 and 1854 he compiled 60 photographs in an album titled Photographic Views from Nature . This compilation forms the basis of this book.