Contemporary photography, according to the stunning new book Talk About Contemporary Photography.

The incarceration incident in question saw performance artist Chris Burden lock himself in a student locker for five days, documented through photographs. Another vanguard of the form – Barbara Kruger, now has her distinctive monochrome and red photograph-and-slogan works used in department store Selfridges’ advertising campaigns.

The forthcoming book from publisher Flammarion presents a visual snapshot of the evolution of contemporary photography, tracing its origins in performance art and its influence on photojournalism, fashion photography and advertising.

The book features portraits from 30 contemporary photographers including William Klein, Martin Parr, Nan Goldin and Jeff Wall, with a brief biographical insight.

Source: © Seydou Keïta/Photo André Morin

SEYDOU KEÏTA, Untitled, 1949–51

Alongside the stunning imagery, the book presents a chronology of important technical innovations, major exhibitions and key dates in contemporary photography’s history. There’s also a handy glossary of technical vocab for the less initiated.

Divided into geographical sections; we see the variations in the artform across Scandinavia, such as Anni Leppala’s chilling child portraits; Africa, with the carefree Christmas Eve dancing, captured by Malick Sidibe; Britain, such as Richard Billingham’s squalid Untitled series and Germany, with Wolfgang Tillman’s saucy Shiny Shorts.

Talk About Contemporary Photography by Elizabeth Couturier is published by Flammarion in April priced £18.95