The world is becoming more and more visual, and the images that surround us are often photographs. Indeed, millions of photos are taken each day. It is crucial to reflect on how photographs affect our lives and our understanding of the past and the present.

In this edited volume, ten researchers from humanities and social sciences examine how historical and contemporary photographs can be analysed, what questions such analysis can answer, and what kind of knowledge it can produce.

The book illuminates the role of photographs in the colonial era, in the Second World War, and during the Cold War. It also contemplates the role of photographs in the news, trials, crises and social media, and includes the approach of digital humanities. The purpose is to widen our notion of how the past and the present can be understood via photographs.