Photographs have a strange and powerful way of shaping the way we see the world and influencing our perceptions of reality. To demonstrate the unique and profound influence on culture and society that photographs have, Photo Icons puts the most imp

Each chapter focuses on a single image which is described and analyzed in detail, in aesthetic, historical, and artistic contexts.

Volume I begins with the very first permanent images (Nicéphore Niépce's 1827 8-hour-exposure rooftop picture and Louis Daguerre's famous 1839 street scene) and takes the reader up through the avant-garde photography of the 1920s.

Volume II explores works such as Dorothea Lange's Migrant Mother (1936) and Robert Doisneau's Kiss in Front of City Hall (1950), up through Martin Parr's 'New European photography.'

About the Series:
More bang for your buck! "... a fast-food, high-energy fix on the topic at hand." The New York Times Book Review

About the author:
Hans-Michael Koetzle is a Munich-based freelance author and journalist, focusing mainly on history and the aesthetics of photography. He has published numerous books on photography and has been editor-in-chief of the magazine Leica World since 1996.