The general aim of this volume is to investigate the nature of the relation between pictorial experience and aesthetic appreciation. In particular, it is concerned with the character and intimacy of this relationship: is there a mere causal connection between pictorial experience and aesthetic appreciation, or are the two relata constitutively associated with one another? The essays in the book’s first section investigate important conceptual issues related to the pictorial experience of paintings. In Section II, the essays discuss the notion of styles, techniques, agency, and facture, and also take into account the experience of photographic and cinematic pictures. The Pleasure of Pictures goes substantially beyond current debates in the philosophy of depiction to launch a new area of reflection in philosophical aesthetics.

"This is an outstanding piece of work: timely, essential, authoritative, and original. Cahill throws light on obscure artists, emerging styles and regional traditions, unexplored aspects of cultural life, enigmatic iconographies, and questions of authorship and authenticity, leaving the reader richly informed and full of new ideas."--Susan Nelson, Indiana University "Cahill brings the vast body of 'vernacular' painting into the legitimate venue of art historical criticism, giving connoisseurs, viewers, and readers a more capacious and accurate grasp of the world of Chinese pictorial art."--Susan Mann, author of The Talented Women of the Zhang Family

The Pleasures of Good Photographs showcases primarily new essays, with a couple of classics thrown in for good measure, making it an important addition to the canon of photographic writing.

First published in 1992 to wide critical acclaim, Pictures From Home is Larry Sultan's pendant to his parents. Sultan returned home to Southern California periodically in the 1980s and the decade-long sequence moves between registers, combining contemporary photographs with film stills from home movies, fragments of conversation, Sultan's own writings and other memorabilia. The result is a narrative collage in which the boundary between the documentary and the staged becomes increasingly ambiguous. Simultaneously the distance usually maintained between the photographer and his subjects also slips in an exchange of dialogue and emotion that is unique to this work. Significantly increasing the page count of the original book, this MACK design of Pictures From Home clarifies the multiplicity of voices - both textual and pictorial - in order to afford a fresh perspective of this seminal body of work -- Provided by the publisher.

Built for Pleasure was a project I began a number of years ago. I’d like to share my thoughts regarding this book and how it came to be. My focus during the photo sessions was capturing each model being them self. When it came to clothing, I asked them to choose the things they liked or felt sexy wearing. Many times this would involve a change into something more adventurous or playful. Either way, I encouraged them to be real. The book is broken into five unique chapters which represent some of the most desirable traits we look for in men. Pleasure comes in many forms, and the men in these pages express this with ease. I thoroughly enjoyed working with them. It doesn’t matter if you’re younger or older, smooth or furry, lean or burly, light or dark, kink or vanilla. Whatever your fantasy, there is something here for you.