Customer Reviews

Towards a Philosophy of Photography

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Towards a Philosophy of Photography by Vilem Flusser is an astonishing and extremely inspiring book. It uses the simplest language to depict the most profound issues in photography. But it is not only about photography, it has to do with everyone of us. In the end, we have to know what we are living for is to find freedom. I feel I can die after I read this book. The reason I could not is that as a photographer and a human being, it is my duty to find the space for human struggle inside the apparatus.

This book by Flusser is so densely written that it is a joy to come to it again and again. It gives you a deep understanding of photography and of camera's. The digital culture cannot be properly understood without this philosophical work. Culture and technology are framed in a precise and fascinating manner.
For anyone interested in digital culture this is a must.

This is a classic for those interested in image, photography and culture. Concise and provocative, Flusser helps the reader to thing about the roles of photography, the technical image and the culture of image we live in.

Wack book. Pretty funny, very prescient, and beautifully written. However I'm not in agreement with the fundamental structuralist view of society that pretty much characterises human's as lacking any significant agency and sees the world run by invisible forces that seem to be out of our control. In that sense it is a bit technologically deterministic.

Vilem Flusser proposes a fascinating philosophical contribution considering the impact on the photograph, photographer, and their impact on contemporary society. His perspective is truly groundbreaking. Well worth the purchase and highly recommended for those interested in the social flow of perspective relative to content in concert with its distribution.

This is another of those books that either goes over my head or somewhere else off target. While not especially verbose, for this sort of material, I just can't get excited about detailed discussion of stuff that does not really seem relevant to either making or appreciating photography, or any other art form, for that matter. Not of practical use to photographers.