Book review: why photography matters

Catherine Allerton casts her anthropologist’s eyes over Jerry Thompson’s Why Photography Matters, and finds an endlessly thought-provoking and illuminating read for students interested in ethnography, photography, and media. Thompson considers the money-fuelled expansion of the market for photography, and he compares ambitious “meant-for-the-wall” photographs with smaller, quieter works. In a world of ‘selfies’, what kind of photography matters?