Product Description

This brief text is designed to help both beginning and advanced students of photography better develop and articulate thoughtful criticism. Organized around the major activities of criticism (describing, interpreting, evaluating, and theorizing), Criticizing Photographs provides a clear framework and vocabulary for students' critical skill development. The fourth edition includes new black and white and color images, updated commentary, a completely revised chapter on theory that offers a broad discussion of digital images, and an expanded chapter eight on studio critiques and writing about photographs, plus examples of student writing and critique.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #50124 in Books
• Published on: 2005-08-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 312 pages

About the Author
Terry Barrett is a Professor of Art Education at Ohio State University. He holds M.A. and Ph.D degrees from Ohio State University in Art Education with a concentration in Photography. He is the author of Criticizing Photographs, of Criticizing Art: Understanding the Contemporary, of Talking about Student Art, and the editor of a volume entitled Lessons for Teaching Art Criticism. He has also served as the senior editor of the research journal, Studies in Art Education. Professor Barrett has been a Visiting Scholar to The Getty Educational Institute for the Arts in Los Angeles, CA and a Visiting Scholar of Education at the Center for Creative Photography in Tucson, Arizona.

Customer Reviews

A treasure trove of definitions, examples, and ideas...
A diversity of critical voices and photographic approaches is explored, giving the reader access to a rich world of creative thoughtŠBarrett defines criticism as "informed discourse about art to increase understanding and appreciation of art." He organizes his treatment of the four major activities of criticism‹describing, interpreting, evaluation, and theorizing‹which in turn address four basic questions: What is here? What is it about? How good is it? Is it art? ŠThe book provides in two short appendixes, practical advice on writing about photographs and on conducting casual and directed discussion of photographsŠ Monterey Peninsula College, Anne Canright

An excellent book with wider appeal than might be expected
Teachers of art and design, specialists in the fields of media studies, cross-cultural education, social anthropology, and literary criticism will find fertile ground here for both personal study and teachingŠIt is documented with extracts from critical writings, biographical details of trends and movements in the history of photography, anecdotes about individual photographers, and a telling section of visuals, most of which are commented on in lengthŠThis is no dry academic exercise; here is a probing exploration of the links between theory and practice in the aesthetics of criticismŠJournal of Art and Design Education, Michael Rawding

Awsome book with clusters of information clearly explain in plain text for beginners
I was writing an essay on photography, and I read over twenty books but most of them are either too subjective or too pragmatic with no depth in theories. What a beginner like me needs is general ideas of how to make judgement on what I see. I found this one through a blog entry with a basic reading list for students of photography. The book actually doesn't tell dogmatic rules but rather use the above question as a starting point to guide the reader to understand what approaches professional critics use when writing about photographs. I ordered a second-hand but it came as if new at a extremely low price. I do recommend it to those interested in getting some basics of photographic critiques.