Camera Lucida

'Roland Barthes' final book - less a critical essay than a suite of valedictory meditations - is his most beautiful, and most painful' Observer

Barthes shares his passionate, in-depth knowledge and understanding of photography.

Examining the themes of presence and absence, the relationship between photography and theatre, history and death, these 'reflections on photography' begin as an investigation into the nature of photographs. Then, as Barthes contemplates a photograph of his mother as a child, the book becomes an exposition of his own mind.