Two Hundred Years of Photography is less a history of a technique than two centuries of historic images of humanity—of joy and sorrow, love and suffering, successes and failures, and also hope.
For a long time, photographers could make only static images. Exposures took many minutes or even longer, so movement, events and news could not be recorded immediately. Even so, the results include fascinating and magical images.
Only at the end of the 19th century did cameras with faster shutter speeds appear. Photographic technology developed rapidly during the first half of the 20th century, enabling photographs of politics, work, events, celebrations, war, love, travel, technology, celebrities and family life. All these themes appear in this book.
In the 20th century, photography was also elevated to art, even though many photos were not intended as art at all. Work by photographers such as Eugène Atget, Walker Evans, Dorothea Lange, Ansel Adams and Alfred Eisenstaedt is now world-famous, and several of these photographers receive special attention in the book.
In addition, there are also many photos by lesser-known but no less interesting photographers, who together tell a fascinating story - a story of two hundred years of human history.
A substantial luxury edition with gold foil and semi-gloss paper for high-quality reproduction. Each copy was sealed and supplied with a price sticker. Iconic photography, clear design and accessible writing.
200 Years of Photography: More Than 750 Iconic Images - Eric Strijbos
Pages: 604
Price: €29.99
Publisher: Rebo Publishers. Language: Dutch. This article refers to the Dutch-language edition.
Another, more chronologically structured retrospective will appear in 2026 with This is Photography: The First 200 Years. In addition to famous photographs, it focuses on cameras, technical developments, exhibitions, and influential publications.
