Practices of Looking: An Introduction to Visual Culture

This is by far the best introductory text on visual culture I have personally come across. I strongly disagree with some previous reviewers that say the writing is "pompous" or "needlessly complex"; I am by no means an expert on the subject and I found the writing to be extremely comprehensive and even generous when it comes to explanations. The authors seem to make a great effort to be understood and a lot of really complex concepts are presented in a surprisingly and refreshing clear manner. I also disagree with a previous review that claimed that technical terms are frequently unexplained (I, in fact, think quite the opposite). Maybe the complaints about it being "unnecessarily long" could be somewhat justified if you consider that illustrating the concepts through concrete examples is "unnecessary". I think that the examples (although I admit I sometimes skimmed through them) present the rich context of visual culture and even make the text quite pleasant and colorful. That, in my opinion, is really something to be thankful for when it comes to "academic" texts.That said, I have some complaints about the quality-price ratio of the actual materiality of the book itself. I initially borrowed the first edition from my university library (where they gave it a hardcover treatment for durability) and read it almost completely through. As I already said, I thought it was great (and wanted to read the new sections added on the second edition) so I decided to buy it regardless of the surprisingly high $80 price tag. I was quite disappointed when it arrived. The paper is not too great, the typography is not the best for reading and the cover is made from a flimsy and thin "plastified" paper (I also think the design of the cover itself is awful -5 minute random cut and paste-, but you can see that from the product photo and I guess its irrelevant). Besides this, I find the format too big (it is exactly A4!). Thus, the book ends up being one of those "squiggly" books that feel like a wet fish when you have it in your hands. I admit this is not so serious, but for $80 bucks I was expecting something better made...In conclusion: content-wise the book is top notch; materially-wise it leaves a lot to be desired. It is extremely useful and it is no doubt a work of great scholarship. However, its not one of those books you enjoy having in your hands or in your bookshelf (and it will undoubtedly hurt your wallet).

When I was looking for a textbook for my visual sociology class I went through several highly academic and rather deadly boring books. Then I came across this one. While it is not exactly what I wanted, it does cover about 90% of the needs for this class. Chapters are set in a logical order and take into account political, commercial as well as sociological and cultural aspects of "looking at" photos, sculptures, paintings, TV and films. All of this is combined with an historical frame. The terminology is well defined and placed into context with understandable examples. The photos and paintings, propaganda material and TV adds are valuable and relevant to the what is covered in the text. It is a readable text but there is one drawback....the authors beat the proverbial dead house when it comes to discussion. Like many academics, including some of my own colleagues, they like to hear themselves talk and, in this case, being read. I am more the..make your point and move on type. So while the book could probably be better edited, it is nonetheless a most valuable source in the practice of looking.

This book is in great condition. There was some use in the book as far as highlighted sections and paragraphs and so forth. There were pencil marking in there as well. Over all the book was in great condition.

If you need the newest edition for your class, this is a good cheap alternative as it is almost identical except for a few entries

This was my textbook for a class I can't remember the name but we rarely used this textbook as the professor mostly lectured. I tried to read it on my own- interesting topics but the wordiness made me disinterested. My friend actually read neatly the whole book and really liked it though. I wish my professor used it more it has fascinating info. 4 stars because I didn't really use it.

The images in this book are perfect to the concepts described within it. I used this book as a textbook and it made the course my favorite one to take! A lot of symbolism and interpretation is involved with this text and makes for great discussion in and out of the classroom. It was one that I didn't sell back because the content was worth keeping!

This book shows great art work and explains those art works and chapters pretty good.the negative part of this book is how difficult it is to understand the reading

Fantastic book to understand our modern age and it's consistent use of photos instead of text or calls

Bought this book for my further reading at university, so far so good. Going to be useful to keep the references of my studies for the future, so that I refer back to my learning long after I graduate. It's been rather eye-opening to think about visual culture from this critical, academic, and analytical perspective.

One of the best books on Visual Culture, illustrated generously throughout with case studies. Good for students and as a source for lecturers.

interesting for reading

Great book for photography studies

Good reference book for University course