Автофокус: The Self-Portrait in Contemporary Photography

This dazzling array of photographs by seventy-five of the world’s foremost contemporary photographers focuses on self-portraits.

From intimate images of introspection and those that challenge notions of ethnicity and sexuality, to dramatic, stylized photographs of dream-like scenarios, Auto Focus shows how one of the longest-established artistic genres continues to fascinate artists today.

Susan Bright provides a clear guide for readers through this significant and dynamic genre, showing how issues of identity – whether national, sexual, racial, personal or artistic – are key to understanding the work of many of today’s leading photographers.

The survey is clearly organized into five themes that deal with
• diaristic and autobiographical images
• pictures of the body
• the use of masks and masquerade
• the return to studio portraiture and the photographic album
• performance, public and private

An illustrated introduction to the book points to the history of the photographic self-portrait from the 1840s to the late twentieth century, providing an invaluable context for the recent surge in artists’ images of themselves.