Eyewitnessing - The Uses of Images as Historical Evidence, 2001, 224 p., 82 ill. n. et b. -

What place do images hold among other kinds of historical evidence? The author reviews visual imagery from many countries and periods and examines their pragmatic uses, surveying the challenges of using images to understand other times. Burke argues that images should be considered as extensions of the social context in which they were produced. He describes and evaluates the methods by which art historians have traditionally analyzed images, and finds them insufficient to deal with the complexity of visual imagery.