Book Recommendation

" The Body" William A. Ewing

"Why is it today that the human body is at the centre of so much attention?... Why are so many writers, artists, photographers so profoundly concerned with the subject?... The body it is being rethought and reconsidered by artist and writers because it is being restructured and reconstituted by scientists and engineers.... Mass-media entertainers like Madonna or Michael Jackson have used photography to promote carefully engineered representations of androgyny or sexual and racial ambiguity. Politicians and ideologues of all persuasions have used photography to put forward visions of perfect bodies as emblems of their own conceptions oh a heathy body politic....Photographs record moments of athletic triumph and preserve the fleeting art of the dance... War reporters find in photographs of broken bodies the most efficacious route to the emotional engagement of their readers...In short, where the human body is concerned, the powers of photography can be questioned, but never denied"