How does one read a photograph? Is it possible todescribe a photograph without looking at it? What is theimportance of context when interpreting a photographicimage? How far can a photographer's intentions determineresponses to the image, decades after it was made?These are just a few of the questions that David Campanyeloquently addresses in On Photographs.In the tradition of Susan Sontag and JohnBerger, Campany explores the tensions inherent in thephotographic medium between art and document,chance and intention, permanence and malleabilityof meaning as well as the significance of authorship,performance, time and reproduction. Rejecting theconventions of chronology and the heightened statusafforded to classics' in traditional accounts of the historyof photography, Campany's selection is an expertlycurated and personal one mixing fine-art prints, filmstills, documentary photographs and fashion editorials.Each photograph is accompanied by highly readablecommentary from Campany, who strives to guide thereader in their own interpretation and understandingof the image.In a visual culture in which we have becomeaccustomed to not looking, Campany helps us see, in whatis both an accessible introduction for newcomers and amust-have for photography aficionados. On Photographsis destined to become a classic of photography writing.