Walter Benjamin's essay 'A Short History of Photography' (1931) made bold statements about photographic pioneers such as David Octavius Hill and Nicphore Nipce, and the social and historical context of their work. This first selection of Benjamin's writings on photography includes a new translation of this influential essay as well as a range of Benjamin's other writings, both published and unpublished, some of which are translated into English for the first time here.

Walter Benjamin (1892-1940) was a German philosopher and cultural critic and one of the most important theorists of the twentieth century.