This is the first survey of international photography to examine the discipline across the full range of its uses by professionals and amateurs. Organized chronologically, each of the eight chapters examines the medium through the lenses of art, science, travel, war, mass media and individual practitioners. The coverage is truly global including rarely seen work from Latin America, Africa, China, Japan, India, and Russia as well as the more established canon of Europe and the United States. This comprehensive survey shows compellingly how photography has sharpened, if not altered forever, our perception of the world.