Understanding photographs has never been easy. Many photographs—including some of the best known—were not taken with a clear idea in mind. And even if they were, the idea was soon overlooked or forgotten. In this profusely illustrated book, Ian Jeffrey hands us the tools to decode key photographs. By giving the reader the necessary biographical and historical information, the author helps us to fully understand photographs by Alfred Stieglitz, Cindy Sherman, Rinko Kawauchi, Nan Goldin, Thomas Ruff, Dorothea Lange, Bill Brandt, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Paul Strand, Diane Arbus, and L.szl. Moholy-Nagy, among others. At the same time, readers explore an overview of the history of photography by looking at one image at a time. Each entry includes a concise biography along with an illuminating discussion of the works and relevant contextual information.