An innovative study of contemporary photography in France This compelling publication traces the broad arc of photography’s development in France from the 1970s to the present day. A decade-by-decade account reveals unexpected points of convergence between practices that are not usually considered in a comparative perspective. These include photographic practices in contemporary art, documentary, photojournalism, and fashion. Author Olga Smith sets these practices in dialogue with French philosophy – the writings of Roland Barthes, Jean Baudrillard, and Jacques Rancière – to produce an innovative study of the intersections between the photographic image, text, practice, and theory. This analysis is guided by an understanding of photography as deeply engaged with historical, cultural, and intellectual events that defined French national experience in the contemporary period. Landscape provides a particular focus to study issues of key significance, including national identification, colonial past, legacies of modernization and environmental breakdown. This compelling publication traces the broad arc of photography’s development in France from the 1970s to the present day. A decade-by-decade account reveals unexpected points of convergence between practices that are not usually considered in a comparative perspective. These include photographic practices in contemporary art, documentary, photojournalism, and fashion. Author Olga Smith sets these practices in dialogue with French philosophy – the writings of Roland Barthes, Jean Baudrillard, and Jacques Rancière – to produce an innovative study of the intersections between the photographic image, text, practice, and theory. This analysis is guided by an understanding of photography as deeply engaged with historical, cultural, and intellectual events that defined French national experience in the contemporary period. Landscape provides a particular focus to study issues of key significance, including national identification, colonial past, legacies of modernization and environmental breakdown. List of Figures List of Plates Acknowledgements Introduction Chapter 1. 1970s: Engagement and Subjectivity Roland Barthes and the Science of Subjectivity From The Family of Man to Families in France: Documentary and Professional Photography Mythologies of the Self: Photography in Artistic Practices Chapter 2. 1980s: Objectivity in a Dematerialized World Jean Baudrillard: The Era of the Object A Quest for Legitimacy as Art Staged Photography and the Culture of Simulacra “The Form Tableau”: Photograph as Object and Picture Chapter 3. 1990s–2000s: The Future of The Photographic Image Jacques Rancière: Photography as Milieu Forms of Resistance and Participation After Photography Conclusion: The Landscapes of France Landscape and the National Imaginary The DATAR Photographic Mission: Picturing “le territoire des Français” The Anthropogenic Landscape: The Environmental Perspective A Sense of Belonging: Territory, Borders, Identity Towards a Non-Nationalist History of Photography Plates Bibliography Index