The history of photography as seen through the Spira collection Book

The founder of Spiratone, a company that once supplied photographic accessories, S.F. (Fred) Spira is also well known for his extensive collection of photographic equipment. This volume, which includes Spira's writings and is coauthored by his son, Jonathan, and Lothrop, a former president of the American Photographic Historical Society, provides a history of photographic processes with a focus on consumer-oriented picture taking. It includes thorough discussions on film and camera history, color photography, photo reproduction, stereo photography, and motion pictures and an especially good chapter on digital photography. Photo illustrations are taken from the more than 20,000 objects in Spira's collection. A chapter on photography and humor seems out of place, but in general the book supplies understandable explanations of photographic devices and methods and is a good supplement to more general histories, such as Naomi Rosenblum's A World History of Photography.