In the previous century, photography helped shape art; in the current one, it has begun to dominate it. Not only are major international museums and galleries mounting blockbuster exhibitions, but art photographers are also being celebrated as contemporary masters and their work commands unprecedented prices. This indispensable survey presents the work of 76 of the most important and best-known art photographers in the world: Andreas Gursky, Thomas Struth, Cindy Sherman, Jeff Wall, Sophie Calle, Wolfgang Tillmans, Nan Goldin, Martin Parr, Allan Sekula, Boris Mikhailov, Inez van Lamsweerde, Stephen Meisel, Philip-Lorca diCorcia, Sam Taylor-Wood, and many more are featured in its pages. Susan Bright, former Curator of Photographs at London's National Portrait Gallery, has organized the book into seven sections--City, Portrait, Document, Object, Landscape, Fashion, and Narrative--and provides an introductory essay for each. Along with each photographer's works, presented in sequence within those divisions, Bright's commentaries provide context and depth, and quotations from the artists themselves offer valuable insights into the motivation, inspiration, and intentions behind the work. Following in the tradition of Photography Past/Forward: Aperture at 50 and the Photography Speaks series, this volume will become an essential resource for curators, collectors, scholars, practitioners, and anyone who wants comprehensive, up-to-date exposure to the state of the medium today.

蘇珊·布賴特(Susan Bright)，國際知名的攝影批評傢，同時也是策展人和作傢，文章散見於各大報刊雜誌。她除瞭舉辦過許多藝術與攝影的國際性會議和研討外，曾擔任倫敦國傢肖像畫廊(National Portrait Gallery)攝影部門助理策展人、攝影師協會策展人，以及倫敦蘇富比藝術學院(Sotheby's Institute of Art)攝影碩士課程(曆史與當代)的執行總監。

本書外，蘇珊·布賴特還齣版瞭本書的姊妹篇《自動對焦:當代攝影中的自拍照》(AUTO FOCUS: THE SELF-PORTRAIT IN CONTEMPORARY PHOTOGRAPHY，世界圖書齣版公司，2013)，現定居於紐約。