Flashes Of Brilliance by Anika Burgess

Flashes of Brilliance traces the experiments and eccentric figures who shaped photography from the 1830s to the early 20th century. It covers daring technical breakthroughs and projects—from underground and night photography to underwater, aerial, and microscopic imaging—and profiles innovators such as Anna Atkins, Eadweard Muybridge, and Étienne-Jules Marey. The book also looks at early challenges that endure today, including image manipulation, surveillance of suffragists, and how Black figures like Sojourner Truth and Frederick Douglass used self-portraiture to claim identity. A compact, spoiler-free survey of how early photographic experiments changed the way we see the world.

The 13081st greatest book of all time

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Total Points: 6

This book was first published in 2025

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