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The everyday practice of photography by millions of amateurphotographers - the family snapshots, the holiday prints, thewedding portraits - may seem to be a spontaneous and highlypersonal activity. But Bourdieu and his associates show that fewcultural activities are more structured and systematic than thesocial uses of this ordinary art.
This perceptive and wide-ranging analysis of the practice ofphotography brings out the logic implicit in this cultural field.The norms which define the occasions and the objects of photographyserve to display the socially differentiated functions of, andattitudes towards, the photographic image and act. For some socialgroups, photography is primarily a means of preserving the presentand reproducing the euphoric moments of collective celebration,whereas for other groups it is the occasion of an aestheticjudgement, in which photos are endowed with the dignity of works ofart.
List of contents
Preface.
Introduction.
Part I: .
1. The Cult of Unity and Cultivated Differences (PierreBourdieu).
2. The Social Definition of Photography (Pierre Bourdieu).
Part II: .
3. Aesthetic Ambitions and Social Aspirations: The Camera Clubas a Secondary Group (Robert Castel and Dominique Schnapper).
4. Mechanical Art, Natural Art: Photographic Artists(Jean-Claude Chamboredon).
5. Professional Men or Men of Quality: ProfessionalPhotographers (Luc Boltanski and Jean-Claude Chamboredon).
Notes.
Index.
About the author
Pierre Bourdieu (eigentlich Pierre-Félix Bourdieu; 1. August 1930 in Denguin, Pyrénées-Atlantiques; 23. Januar 2002 in Paris) war einer der bekanntesten Soziologen des 20. Jahrhunderts. Er studierte Philosophie in Paris an der École Normale Supérieure und arbeitete als Lehrer. Seit 1981 hatte Bourdieu einen Lehrstuhl am Collège de France. Im Jahre 1993 wurde er mit der "Médaille d'or du Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique" (CNRS) ausgezeichnet. Pierre Bourdieus soziologische Forschungen, zumeist im Alltagsleben verwurzelt, waren vorwiegend empirisch orientiert. Er war bekannt als politisch interessierter und aktiver Intellektueller, der sich gegen die herrschende Elite und den Neoliberalismus wandte.
Summary
The everyday practice of photography by millions of amateur photographers -- the family snapshots, the holiday prints, the wedding portraits -- may seem to be a spontaneous and highly personal activity. But Bourdieu and his associates show that few cultural activities are more structured and systematic than the social uses of this ordinary art.
Report
"At his best Pierre Bourdieu observes the world like an acerbicnovelist, and Photography is Bourdieu at his best - itsinsights into the popular use of the camera still offer thedelights of recognition and a valuable reminder that culturalstudies need the empirical and theoretical underpinnings providedby good, Durkheimian sociology." Simon Frith
"Interesting ... in its scope and insights." TheGuardian
"Pathbreaking [and] intriguing." Times Higher EducationSupplement
