The text investigates all aspects of photography - aesthetic, documentary, commercial and technical - while placing it in historical context. It includes three technical sections with detailed information about equipment and processes. This edition also updates important new international work from the 1980s and 1990s.

    

    Weaver's hilarious text and R. Crumb's instantly recognizable art shine light on words like "weeble-stick," "wickerbill," and "snakenavel." Included is a section on the nomenclature of Dubya, and readers learn how to pick a fight in a Texas bar: just tell a guy he's "uglier than a cancer-eyed cow."