Bourdieu and his colleagues refer to photography as an illegitimate art. Indeed, it is considered a hybrid: an everyday action with the claim of artistic effort. What purposes does photography serve? Are photographs images in the strict sense typically associated with this word? And what implicit or explicit intentions guide the technical apparatus when a photo is taken? This book examines photography from the perspective of its use value. For, as Bourdieu states, it is use that constitutes its meaning, a social meaning. This explains both the widespread use of the medium and the uniformity of image motifs. It also explains the special status of photography within cultural everyday activities; it signals a codified behavior that makes a claim.