A collection of acclaimed essays explores the aesthetic and moral problems raised by the presence and authority of the photographic image in modern-day life, considers the relation of photography to art, conscience, and knowledge, and examines the works of major photographers. Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award. Reprint. Essays explore the aesthetic and moral problems raised by the presence of the photographic image in modern-day life; consider the relation of photography to art, conscience, and knowledge; and examine the works of major photographers. Winner of the National Book Critics' Circle Award for Criticism.

One of the most highly regarded books of its kind, On Photography first appeared in 1977 and is described by its author as “a progress of essays about the meaning and career of photographs.” It begins with the famous “In Plato's Cave”essay, then offers five other prose meditations on this topic, and concludes with a fascinating and far-reaching “Brief Anthology of Quotations.”