A picture-rich field guide to American photography, from daguerreotype to digital. We are all photographers now, with camera phones in hand and social media accounts at the ready. And we know which pictures we like. But what makes a "good picture"? And how could anyone think those old styles were actually good? Soft-focus yearbook photos from the '80s are now hopelessly—and happily—outdated, as are the low-angle portraits fashionable in the 1940s or the blank stares of the 1840s. From portraits to products, landscapes to food pics, Good Pictures proves that the history of photography is a history of changing styles. In a series of short, engaging essays, Kim Beil uncovers the origins of fifty photographic trends and investigates their original appeal, their decline, and sometimes their reuse by later generations of photographers. Drawing on a wealth of visual material, from vintage how-to manuals to magazine articles for working photographers, this full-color book illustrates the evolution of trends with hundreds of pictures made by amateurs, artists, and commercial photographers alike. Whether for selfies or sepia tones, the rules for good pictures are always shifting, reflecting new ways of thinking about ourselves and our place in the visual world.

DESCRIBED BY GREAT WRITERS (BORDONE) THÉOPHILE GAUTIER THE BIRTH OF VENUS (BOTTICELLI) WALTER PATER THE QUEEN OF SHEBA (VERONESE) JOHN RUSKIN THE LAST JUDGEMENT (MICHAEL ANGELO) ALEXANDRE DUMAS FOOTNOTES: MAGDALEN IN THE DESERT (CORREGGIO) AIMÉ GIRON BANQUET OF THE ARQUEBUSIERS (VAN DER HELST) WILLIAM MAKEPEACE THACKERAY (WATTEAU) EDMOND AND JULES DE GONCOURT THE SISTINE MADONNA (RAPHAEL) F.A. GRUYER THE DREAM OF ST. URSULA (CARPACCIO) JOHN RUSKIN FOOTNOTES: THE DESCENT FROM THE CROSS (RUBENS) EUGÈNE FROMENTIN BACCHUS AND ARIADNE (TITIAN) CHARLES LAMB BACCHUS AND ARIADNE (TITIAN) EDWARD T. COOK FOOTNOTES: THE CORONATION OF THE VIRGIN (FRA ANGELICO) THÉOPHILE GAUTIER JUDITH (SANDRO BOTTICELLI) MAURICE HEWLETT THE AVENUE OF MIDDELHARNAIS (HOBBEMA) PAUL LAFOND (ANDREA DEL SARTO) ALGERNON CHARLES SWINBURNE ADORATION OF THE MAGI (GENTILE DA FABRIANO) F.A. GRUYER FOOTNOTES: PORTRAIT OF GEORG GISZE (HOLBEIN) ANTONY VALABRÈGUE FOOTNOTES: PARADISE (TINTORET) JOHN RUSKIN AURORA (GUIDO RENI) CHARLOTTE A. EATON AURORA (GUIDO RENI) JOHN CONSTABLE THE ASSUMPTION OF THE VIRGIN (TITIAN) THÉOPHILE GAUTIER THE NIGHT WATCH (REMBRANDT) EUGÈNE FROMENTIN THE RAPE OF HELEN (BENOZZO GOZZOLI) COSMO MONKHOUSE MONNA LISA9 (LEONARDO DA VINCI) WALTER PATER FOOTNOTES: THE ADORATION OF THE LAMB (VAN EYCK) KUGLER FOOTNOTES: THE DEATH OF PROCRIS (PIERO DI COSIMO) EDWARD T. COOK THE DEATH OF PROCRIS (PIERO DI COSIMO) JOHN ADDINGTON SYMONDS FOOTNOTES: THE MARRIAGE IN CANA (TINTORET) JOHN RUSKIN MADAME DE POMPADOUR (DE LA TOUR) CHARLES-AUGUSTIN SAINTE-BEUVE FOOTNOTES: THE HAY WAIN (CONSTABLE) C.L. BURNS THE SURRENDER OF BREDA (VELASQUEZ) THÉOPHILE GAUTIER FOOTNOTES: THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION (MURILLO) AIMÉ GIRON ST. FRANCIS BEFORE THE SOLDAN (GIOTTO) JOHN RUSKIN FOOTNOTES: LILITH (ROSSETTI) ALGERNON CHARLES SWINBURNE ADORATION OF THE MAGI (DÜRER) MORIZ THAUSING MARRIAGE A-LA-MODE (HOGARTH) AUSTIN DOBSON FOOTNOTES: THE MADONNA OF THE ROCKS (LEONARDO DA VINCI) THÉOPHILE GAUTIER FOOTNOTES: BEATRICE CENCI (GUIDO RENI) PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY THE TRANSFIGURATION (RAPHAEL) MRS. JAMESON THE BULL (PAUL POTTER) EUGÈNE FROMENTIN CORÉSUS AND CALLIRHOÉ (FRAGONARD) EDMOND AND JULES DE GONCOURT FOOTNOTES: THE MARKET-CART (GAINSBOROUGH) RICHARD AND SAMUEL REDGRAVE BACCHUS AND ARIADNE (TINTORET) HIPPOLYTE ADOLPHE TAINE FOOTNOTES: BACCHUS AND ARIADNE ANONYMOUS LA CRUCHE CASSÉE (GREUZE) THÉOPHILE GAUTIER (REYNOLDS) FREDERIC G. STEPHENS FOOTNOTES: ST. CECILIA (RAPHAEL) PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY THE LAST SUPPER (LEONARDO DA VINCI) JOHANN WOLFGANG VON GOETHE THE CHILDREN OF CHARLES I. (VAN DYCK) JULES GUIFFREY (TURNER) JOHN RUSKIN FOOTNOTES: SPRING (BOTTICELLI) MARCEL REYMOND FOOTNOTES:

"An introduction to art that uses well-known works of art to illustrate familiar words" -- Title page verso.

Over 500,000 copies sold![Bokinfo].

From the institution that set the standard for exceptional photography comes the definitive how-to volume--fully revised and updated with the latest information. 280 photos, illustrations & maps.