Photography: The Unfettered Image argues for a new understanding of the image and of visual culture in the era of ubiquitous cameras and image-sharing. The book traces a history of visual culture since the nineteenth century, foregrounding the mobility of images and the relationship between photographs, and other media.
"Moving from X-rays to the labour of reproduction, and from Walter Benjamin’s writings to photography’s dependency on the chemical industry, The Unfettered Image examines the neglected history of photography as a tool for making images move freely and easily, which, indeed, is at the heart of today’s visual culture. Henning’s book is an important contribution to recent efforts in opening up photography history to new questions beyond the pictorial, the singular and the material object."
Estelle Blaschke, Université de Lausanne, France
" ...Michelle Henning's Photography. The Unfettered Image is a successful attempt to give nuance to the assumption that the era of the digital image would have profoundly transformed what the character of photographs: in reality, the history of the mobility of photographs began much earlier and in many guises."
Transbordeur magazine
"an insightful and deeply-researched resource, notable for its astute synthesis of existing photography literatures as well as for the breadth and richness of its historical material… This book has much to offer for students and scholars of photography, whether they come to it with an interest in the history of photography as a communications medium, in the current state of photography theory, or even simply in one of the special topics that she addresses in her many case studies. "
Frances Cullen, Visual Studies Journal review
Michelle Henning is Professor of Photography and Cultural History in the London School of Film, Media and Design at the University of West London, UK. Her previous publications include Museums, Media and Cultural Theory (2006) and Museum Media (2015). She is also a visual artist, working with PJ Harvey on Let England Shake (2010) and The Hope Six Demolition Project (2016).