Based on the highly successful course at the School of Visual Arts developed by the author, this book provides a comprehensive approach to the critical understanding of photography through an in-depth discussion of fifteen photographs and their contexts – historical, generic, biographical and aesthetic. This book presents an intensive course in looking at photographs, open to undergraduates and general audiences alike. Rexer argues that by concentrating on fifteen carefully chosen works it is possible to understand the history, development and contemporary situation of photography. Looking to images by photographers such as Roland Fischer, Nancy Rexroth and Ernest Cole, The Critical Eye is the only book to address the totality of issues involved in photography, from authorial self-consciousness to the role of the audience. Its subjects are not limited to art photography but include vernacular images, commercial genres and anthropology. With every chapter it seeks to link the history of photography to current practice. This highly illustrated and beautiful book provides a much-needed introduction to image production.

This was supposed to be the era when democracy came into its own, but instead power and wealth in Britain have slowly been consolidated the hands of a small elite, while the rest of the country struggles financially and switches off politically. We are now ruled by a gang of fat-cats with fingers in every pie who squabble for power among themselves while growing richer. Bored with watching corrupt politicians jockeying for power, ordinary Britons are feeling disconnected from politics and increasingly cynical about the back-scratching relationship between politicians and big business. The New Fewshows us what has led to this point, and asks the critical questions: whyhas Britain become a more unequal society over the past thirty years? Whyhave the banks been bailed out with taxpayers' money, while bankers are still receiving huge bonuses? Why have those responsible not been held accountable for the financial crash? Why has power in Britain become so concentrated in the hands of corrupt politicians who have been exposed cheating their constituents in the expenses scandal? Despite this bleak diagnosis, there are solutions to the rise of the new ruling class in the modern West. The New Few sets out some of the ways in which we can restore our democracy, bringing back real accountability to British business and fairness to our society.

Reflections in a Critical Eye is intended to appeal both to scholars of Carson McCullers and to those unaffiliated with colleges and universities who read and celebrate her life and work. Following an introduction for newcomers to Southern literature and culture and to McCullers' life and work, the collection presents essays about diverse topics: -McCullers in the tradition of Southern women's nonfiction prose -daughters as outlaw figures in The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter and The Member of the Wedding -gender and the interplay among the roles characters assume in The Ballad of the Sad Café -analysis of The Ballad of the Sad Café to explore alcohol as an important signifier in McCullers' life and work -the political backdrop of McCullers' most well-known works -same-sex relationships in McCullers' novels and short stories -and the phenomenon of masquerade in The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter and The Ballad of the Sad Café.