Why take a self-portrait but obscure your face with a lightbulb (Lee Friedlander, Provincetown, Cape Cod, Massachusetts (1968)? Or deliberately underexpose an image (Vera Lutter, Battersea Power Station, XI: July 13 , 2004)? And why photograph a ceiling (William Eggleston, Red Ceiling , 1973)? In Why It Does Not Have To Be In Focus , Jackie Higgins offers a lively, informed defence of modern photography. Choosing 100 key photographs - with particular emphasis on the last twenty years - she examines what inspired each photographer in the first place, and traces how the piece was executed. In doing so, she brings to light the layers of meaning and artifice behind these singular works, some of which were initially dismissed out of hand for being blurred, overexposed or 'badly' composed. The often controversial works discussed in this book play with our expectations of a photograph, our ingrained tendency to believe that it is telling us the unadorned truth. Jackie Higgins's book proves once and for all that there's much more to the art of photography than just pointing and clicking.

An engaging, thoroughgoing and enlightening reappraisal of contemporary photography that shows that there's much more to the art of photography than just pointing and clicking

About the Author
Jackie Higgins is a writer, journalist and filmmaker whose work embraces a range of subjects. She was a contributing writer to Photography: The Whole Story, also published by Thames & Hudson.

Reviews
'A great book - inventive, and persuasively argued' - Amateur Photographer
'If you're after a pocket primer in contemporary art photography, 'Why It Does Not Have to Be In Focus' offers an incisive starting point' - Daily Telegraph



Book Information
ISBN 9780500290958
Author Jackie Higgins
Format Paperback
Page Count 224
Imprint Thames & Hudson Ltd
Publisher Thames & Hudson Ltd
Weight(grams) 490g