From the camera lucida to the latest in digital image making and computer manipulation, photographic technology has dramatically changed throughout its nearly 200-year history, as succinctly explained and powerfully illustrated in "A World History of Photography". Thanks to the unique immediacy with which photography captures perspective and history, the popularity and use of the camera spread rapidly around the globe. Today, photography is ubiquitous: from newspapers and fashion magazines to billboards and the film industry, cultures worldwide have embraced this malleable artistic medium for a limitless variety of purposes. Naomi Rosenblum's classic text investigates all aspects of photography - aesthetic, documentary, commercial, and technical - while placing photos in their historical context. Included among the more than 800 photographs by men and women are both little-known and celebrated masterpieces, arranged in stimulating juxtapositions that illuminate their visual power. Authoritative and unbiased, Rosenblum's chronicle of photography both chronologically and thematically traces the evolution of this still-young art form. Exploring the diverse roles that photography has played in the communication of ideas, Rosenblum devotes special attention to topics such as portraiture, documentation, advertising, and photojournalism, and to the camera as a means of personal artistic expression. The revised fourth edition includes updates on technical advances as well as a new chapter on contemporary photographers. Armed with the expressive vigor of its images, this thorough and accessible volume will appeal to all.

内奥米•罗森布拉姆，博士，现居住于美国纽约长岛，她拥有纽约市立大学研究生院艺术史博士学位，在摄影史研究领域做出了杰出贡献。罗森布拉姆博士所著的《世界摄影史》已经成为北美各大高校广泛使用且备受推崇的教材。此外，她还撰写了享誉业界的《女性摄影师史》（History of Women Photographers）一书，以及大量关于刘易斯•W.海因、保罗•斯特兰德、现代主义等涉及21世纪摄影各个方面的著作及专论。