Photography and Belief

by David Levi Strauss

published in 2020

first published in 2020

Nonfiction

✔ Available to borrow

93 pages

published by David Zwirner Books

published in New York, NY

owned in Printed Book format

A really great book that does not overstay its welcome. It summarizes some meaningful writing on the phenomenon of photography, particularly Flusser's idea of "technical images", then quickly lays out the author's argument that technical images have always been more about belief than critics have understood them to be.

The ideas in this book feels very correct to our times. One of them is the addressing an unconsciously learned truth in all people born with the internet, that more and sharper pixels did not bring about the promised perfect truth techno-utopians believed it would. This is not due to a failure of the images, but because as Strauss states, it's always been about belief at its core.

I will post more quotes and write about how these ideas intersect with my interests in the future, but I recommend this to anyone interested in contemporary philosophy and technology, and will loan it to you if possible.

Citation

Strauss, David Levi. Photography and Belief. New York, NY: David Zwirner Books, 2020. Printed Book.