Unlike some dictionaries, one can easily sit down and read this from cover to cover, flipping around for definitions as necessary (terms elsewhere defined are printed in small-caps). Synonymous entries are cross-referenced to the primary entry.

Coverage of digital photography is minimal, but given the time it was written (1991) this is understandable. Also missing are terms like Kodachrome or Ektachrome (though mentioned in the entry for "Chromogenic Print"). Other terms I had hoped to see included 'Colorama', 'Land', 'Polaroid' (though this is alluded to in the entry for 'Dye Diffusion Print'), Giclees/Iris Prints, Lightjet Prints, Image Transfer, Emulsion Transfer, SX-70 manipulation, and no doubt many others I'm not thinking of right now.

The typography, layout, and printing of the book is outstanding. Heavy glossy pages do the reproduced images justice. Examples are well chosen and represent a range of photographer's and genres.

3 of 3 found the following review helpful:


Essential for Gallery and Museum Educators  Feb 09, 2007 By Marianne A. Wood
I'd missed this book. It was in the library of the museum I worked for previously. Now that I serve as a curator of education in a non-profit gallery with an entire gallery dedicated to photography, a guidebook to photographic processes is essential. The book's beautiful layout and illustrations makes it a delight. Anyone interested in understanding historical or contemporary photography will benefit from this book.

6 of 9 found the following review helpful:


A basic reference even for the pros  Dec 04, 2000
So you think you know it all? This slim, artfully produced, thorough glossary of terms is beautifully illustrated, has clear descriptions of all those mysterious processes on museum labels, including a few even you might not have known, and is as useful in a collector's library as in a contemporary practitioner's.