Photography does not only record the world: with its language, its immediacy and its technical particularities it transforms every aspect of our contemporary experience. What we want, what we see, who we are, what we do, where we go and how we remember: from everyday objects to self-perception, from politics to knowledge of the world, from the food we eat to the news, from describing physical phenomena to choosing a partner, it has radically changed our way of being in the world. Born from the online project of the Smithsonian Photography Initiative, the book reflects on its impact on our culture and our lives in eighty short, gripping chapters by experts, critics, inventors, public figures and ordinary people, among them Hugh Hefner, John Baldessari, Candice Bergen, John Waters, Robert Adams and Sandra Phillips. "Photographs do not just show us things, they shape them. They seduce and motivate us, promote ideas, embody values and shape public opinion."