Joe wants to be a good photographer and find a job with these kind of skills. He asked: "But why study the history of it?" Good question! I said it was useful to learn how photographic processes were discovered and how they were used, so you have a foundation in it, and then be able to go beyond it if you can. Libraries provide credible resources for this topic, and I will share some examples of what you can find at the SLCC Library.
Librarians often order useful academic print books and other resources, depending on our budgets. Our Photography-related books on the shelves can be searched by using the SLCC Library page search box. Switch to: Find Physical Items. In addition I have put together a selected list of print books in a downloadable list, just below, under the two book examples, to make it easier.
Most Photography History print books are located at the South City Campus Library, but some are at the main Library at Taylorsville / Redwood Campus. Here are two good examples of titles, both at South:
Also see my selected list Word document below (downloadable):
You can search Summon and then filter or limit the search to E-books, or go to A to Z databases and select E-books using All Database Types. The O'Reilly Platform and ProQuest E-book Central are the best E-book sources to start with.
A good example found in O'Reilly is: A Brief History of Photography by David S. Young (Rocky Nook, 2024). It also tells you how long it takes to read it! See the cover image to the right.
Here is another E-book example, from ProQuest E-book Central:
Photographing the Mexican Revolution by John Mraz, Univ. of Texas, 2012.
I found these using the Publication Finder, which is next to the A-Z Databases:
Use may go to the A to Z databases list, then select All Subjects, and use the drop down for Arts. From here is a list of Databases, such as Art Full-Text and JSTOR, which provide articles on Photography or famous Photographers and other Arts topics. The database, Films on Demand, has streaming online documentary movies (several on Photography). Database for Images
(combined with JSTOR now, look for Images)
You will see that using the Library databases and collections will guarantee finding better, more reliable sources than with the Web alone.
Find something among our resources that you might use. Try it out! See if you can find a specific book, e-book, and online article on a topic or just try Photography History. Start with Summon, or search E-books, or use other Arts databases, or look for physical print books or DVDs.
If you need any further assistance or advice, you can e-mail me or set up a research tutoring session, or use the online Library chat:
