Anne H. Hoy is a former curator for the International Center of Photography. An art historian and author she teaches the history of 19th and 20th century photography at New York University and in the City University of New York system. Hoy also writes and edits books and magazines.

In this comprehensive and global volume hundreds of entries define and cover every aspect of photography-The newest inventions the ingenious past the ever-changing technical and aesthetic developments and the personal stories and styles of photographers worldwide. Timelines summarize and sidebars elaborate on major milestones and tell the human stories behind them. Beautiful photographs on every subject from around the globe are meant to both illustrate the fine points and inspire the reader.Photography was invented in 1839 and it went on to change the world. Every field-medicine astronomy journalism art geography and history-has been revolutionized by photography. Photography is used to explore inform and convince. It is global and it is personal: We treasure photographs of people we love and we scrutinize pictures of ourselves with posterity in mind.The Book of Photography like photography itself is for everyone. This is the basic book for those who want to increase their understanding and appreciation of photography or for those with just the occasional photographic question. Organized by subject this is a comprehensive fascinating and easy-to-use photography reference-a book you'll dip into again and again.The chapters are:o Still Life Cityscape and Architectureo Portraitureo Exploration Ethnography and Wildlifeo Photojournalism and Documents of Social Concerno The Art of Photography Nineteenth Centuryo The Art of Photography Early Twentieth Centuryo The Art of Photography Since the 1950so Fashion and Advertisingo Science and Technologyo A Biographical Dictionary: The Major Photographers Institutions and Important Figures in the History of Photography