Lambert McLaurin's analysis of the textbook Seizing the Light by Robert Hirsch

2. ACCORDING TO
AMAZON:
 Seizing the Light: A Social History of Photography
provides a thought-provoking, accurate, and
accessible introduction to the photographic arts for
all readers. With stunning images and commentary
by hundreds of international artists, the text clearly
and concisely provides the building blocks
necessary to critically explore photographic history
from the photographers' eye, an aesthetic point of
view.

3. WHO IS ROBERT
HIRSCH?
 Robert Hirsch is an acclaimed
photographer and writer. His current series
World in a Jar: War and Trauma has been
exhibited at such places as Parsons School
of Design, South East Center of
Contemporary Art and Light Work in
Syracuse, New York. In addition to
contributing to such publications as
Afterimage, exposure, and The Photo
Review, Hirsch has published several
important books on photography that
include: Seizing the Light: A Social History of
Photography and Light and Lens:
Photography in the Digital Age. Hirsch is an
former Associate Editor for Digital
Camera(UK) and Photovision Magazine, and
a contributor to
Afterimage, exposure, Buffalo
Spree, Fotophile, FYI, History of
Photography, Ilford Photo Instructor
Newsletter, and The Photo Review.

4. Second Edition
Hirsch’s history book

5. Stated Goals
 Discerning chronological account of Western
photography from an American perspective;
 Convey the diversity of contemporary
makers, issues, and applications;
 Present intriguing images inspiring people to visit
galleries and museums;
 Explore artistic, social, and critical aspects of the creative
process that motivates people to make, look at, and
interpret images.

7. Contents Two Chapters

8. Salt Prints

9. Social documents-Ethnological documents

10. Thinking About Photography

11. Positives
 I appreciate the effort to make the photographer and the
photographer relevant to the cultural and social scene. It
is significant that in the second edition the word social
has been added to the subtitle.
 It is important to point out how the photograph is more
than a physical object. It has both depictive elements as
well as mental, content elements, Hirsch is good at this.
Perhaps his work as a significant photographer facilitates
this
 The book is not cluttered. The page layouts are simple;
and while plain, they are comfortable.

12. Positives
 It is written in straight forward style. Neither the
vocabulary nor the syntax are complicated; it is not
like reading Artforum, sometimes it is easier to say
what something is not.
 The captions under the images are complete and full
of information. The details of the image are clear, the
photographer and their situation are covered in the
very readable text.

13. Negatives
 It is expensive for a soft bound book.
 The images and the related text are often several
pages apart.
 The style of writing is dry, it is difficult to make
history a sprightly read, but this is at times a bit
stale. This is especially a fault of the last portion of
the book where the more contemporary
photographers are cataloged in a sort of “class
directory” fashion.

14. Conclusions
 It is a suitable textbook for an undergraduate History of
Photography course.
 Some re-doing of the flow might be needed according to
teaching style, easy enough if you simply assign readings
in the book. I put the page numbers on the schedule.
 Some supplemental materials can be used to expand
upon the text discussions, using this book I often find
myself doing this in an effort to make the course more
lively and to introduce divergent opinions.

15. Other Books I Read
 Warner’s text is too busy for me, I think it is
cluttered.
 Newhall’s text is a treasure, but is not as complete
as I prefer.
 Frizot’s text is very European and weighs over 20
pounds.
 Rosenblum would be an equally good choice for me.