Working Pictures

This book explores professional photographic practice, beginning with an analysis of the writings of Becker and Bourdieu on photography and Goffman's work on visual gestures and commercial images. It then presents three case studies on a Swedish audio-visual media cluster, African wildlife photography, and Sami photographers, before examining the digital transformation of photography. Drawing on social network theory and the sociology of technology, this volume considers photographs as both images and artefacts, as well as epistemic objects that can function as data and evidence. It argues that photographs also operate as relational objects, bringing people together in a variety of social roles and network constellations. This book will be of interest to researchers and students in cultural sociology, media studies, cultural management, advertising studies, design studies, visual communication, and related fields with an interest in photography.