<i>Auto Focus</i> features a dazzling array of self-portraits by seventy-five of the world&rsquo;s foremost contemporary photographers. Photography writer and curator Susan Bright provides a clear guide through this significant and dynamic genre, showing how issues of identity&mdash;whether national, sexual, racial, personal, or artistic&mdash;are key to understanding the work of many of today&rsquo;s leading photographers. <br><br>This lavishly illustrated, accessible survey is organized into five thematic chapters: diaristic and autobiographical images; pictures of the body; the use of masks and masquerade; the return to studio portraiture and the photographic album; and performance, both public and private. An informative illustrated introduction explains the history of the photographic self-portrait from the 1840s to the late twentieth century, providing an invaluable context for the recent surge in artists&rsquo; images of themselves.<br><br>From intimate images of introspection and those that consciously challenge notions of ethnicity and sexuality to dramatic, stylized photographs of dreamlike scenarios, Auto Focus shows how one of the longest-established artistic genres continues to fascinate artists today.