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Camera Lucida:

Reflections on Photography
Front Cover
39 Reviews
Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1981 - Photography - 119 pages
This personal, wide-ranging, and contemplative volume--and the last book Barthes published--finds the author applying his influential perceptiveness and associative insight to the subject of photography. To this end, several black-and-white photos (by the likes of Avedon, Clifford, Hine, Mapplethorpe, Nadar, Van Der Zee, and so forth) are reprinted throughout the text.

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I thought photography was supposed to be fun... - Goodreads
This book is, like photography, a “[clock] for seeing”. - Goodreads
He ended on the note of taming photographs. - Goodreads
... required reading of photography class.. - Goodreads

Review: Camera Lucida: Reflections on Photography

User Review  - Martin - Goodreads

Such a great read! Barthes offers such lucid and poignant observations on the nature of photography and photographs. As an avid photographer the insights he offers has great personal relevance and has ... Read full review

Review: Camera Lucida: Reflections on Photography

User Review  - Sarah - Goodreads

There were some glimmers of hope in this book, but on the whole it was incredibly frustrating. I thought photography was supposed to be fun... Read full review

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About the author (1981)

Roland Barthes was born in 1915 and studied French literature and the classics at the University of Paris. After teaching French at universities in Romania and Egypt, he joined the Centre National de Recherche Scientifique, where he devoted himself to research in sociology and lexicology. He was a professor at the College de France until his death in 1980.

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