List of FiguresList of PlatesAcknowledgementsIntroductionChapter 1. 1970s: Engagement and SubjectivityRoland Barthes and the Science of SubjectivityFrom The Family of Man to Families in France: Documentary and Professional PhotographyMythologies of the Self: Photography in Artistic PracticesChapter 2. 1980s: Objectivity in a Dematerialized WorldJean Baudrillard: The Era of the ObjectA Quest for Legitimacy as ArtStaged Photography and the Culture of Simulacra“The Form Tableau”: Photograph as Object and PictureChapter 3. 1990s–2000s: The Future of The Photographic ImageJacques Rancière: Photography as MilieuForms of Resistance and ParticipationAfter PhotographyConclusion: The Landscapes of FranceLandscape and the National ImaginaryThe DATAR Photographic Mission: Picturing “le territoire des Français”The Anthropogenic Landscape: The Environmental PerspectiveA Sense of Belonging: Territory, Borders, IdentityTowards a Non-Nationalist History of PhotographyPlatesBibliographyIndexAn innovative study of contemporary photography in FranceThis 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.