Practices of Looking: An Introduction to Visual Culture

"Marita Sturken is Associate Professor at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Southern California."

"Lisa Cartwright is Associate Professor of English and of Visual and Cultural Studies, and Director of the Susan B. Anthony Institute for Gender and Women's Studies at the University of Rochester."

"a REMARKABLY WELL-WRITTEN, lucidly organized, and pedagogically astute book"
--- Donald Preziosi,
Department of Art History,
University of California, Los Angeles

"an EXEMPLARY TEXTBOOK... it offers an impressively comprehensive survey of debates in the field, illustrated by accessible interpretations of up-to-date and familiar examples from contemporary visual culture"
--- Jackie Stacey,
Department of Sociology,
Lancaster University

"a WIDE-RANGING, supple, historical, and analytical approach to visual culture, full of lively examples... a pleasure to read"
--- Toby Miller,
Department of Cinema Studies,
New York University

"a COMPREHENSIVE and compelling introduction to the wide range of critical thought"
--- Nicholas Mirzoeff,
Department of Art,
SUNY Stony Brook
[from the book of the back cover]

This was a painfully written book for an actually quite interesting topic. Bought this book for a class and enjoyed the class, just not the reading assignments as the book went on and on seemingly talking about nothing. When it would finally get to a point, it was unclear on if this was the point the author was intending or just another side remark.

The authors of this book very clearly articulate the considerable factors of the visual culture in mass media and visual art. Not only the pictures cited in the texts are also quite helpful to better understand the details of description, but also more importantly this book provides knowledgeable contents and information enabling readers to be aware of the significant roles of visual culture and how it is embedded in our lives, influencing the whole culture, society, industry and other many impacts of social forces.

This is an excellent book for anyone interested in media studies. The language is simple and articulate. The authors provide plenty of visual evidence in each chapter. If you enjoy reading about popular culture, even advertising strategies- this is the book for you.

I actually returned this book after leafing through it. It was a little disappointing and did not have much information other than common sense kind of info. Where was the meat?