{"product_id":"walter-benjamin-a-little-history-of-photography","title":"Walter Benjamin: A Little History of Photography","description":"\u003cb\u003eAn extraordinary document in the history of photographic criticism.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Perhaps more than any other text, \u003ci\u003eA Little History of Photography\u003c\/i\u003e by the German-Jewish thinker Walter Benjamin has shaped the way in which we understand early photography and the photographic act. One of the first theoretical studies of visual culture, this essay laid the foundation for modern cultural criticism. Instead of regarding the artwork as a unique object, Benjamin emphasized the political and artistic potential of a new technology based on endless reproduction. \u003ci\u003eA Little History of Photography\u003c\/i\u003e was originally published in the German literary journal \u003ci\u003eDie Literarische Welt\u003c\/i\u003e in 1931 as three short essays reviewing several books dedicated to early photography. In this text, Benjamin introduced concepts that remain central to critical theory of the medium: the aura, optical unconscious, reproducibility, among other topics. It constitutes a remarkably prescient description of the limits and potentials of photography which remains thought-provoking today.","brand":"Walther \u0026 Franz König","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42663895334948,"sku":"9783753304014","price":14.99,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0725\/9734\/0196\/files\/9783753304014.jpg?v=1774922703","url":"https:\/\/thamesandhudson.com.au\/products\/walter-benjamin-a-little-history-of-photography","provider":"Thames \u0026 Hudson Australia","version":"1.0","type":"link"}