Creative Camera: 30 Years of Writing (The Critical Image)

Founded in 1968, "Creative Camera" has been a forum for influencing the shape and direction of modern photography. This anthology of 50 texts and their images includes moments from the debate. There are contributors such as Roland Barthes, John Berger, Victor Burgin, Jo Spence and Helen Chadwick. Through its 30 year history, "Creative Camera" has played its part in the changing fortunes of photography. In the 1980s opinions became polarized and the boundaries of "pure photography" were radically reformed. This was the era of "New Colour" and "Constructed Photography" in practice and the new art history, feminism and post-structuralism featured in critical approaches to photography. In the 1990s, photography has become a favoured tool among young artists. Debates about identity, the body, and the impact of digital technlogy are important features of the "post-theory years". In particular, the ability of the new technology to stimulate photographic realism has revitalized the discussions about the relationship between photography, society, the media and "the real".