A splendid gallery of photographs follows the essays. American photography from Jacob Riis and Alfred Stieglitz to Richard Avedon and Diane Arbus is set forth through a carefully ordered sequence, in which groups of pictures conceived as works of fine art alternate with groups of pictures that served a myriad of worldly functions. Major figures, such as Paul Strand, Edward Weston, Walker Evans, Dorothea Lange, Harry Callahan, and Robert Frank, are each represented by six or more photographs.