Books by Tanya (William R. Kenan Sheehan

Explores the connections among race, visual humor, and technologies of photography in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, with special attention to the reappropriation of racial humor by contemporary artists.

Examines the relationship between photography and medicine in American culture. Focuses on the American Civil War and postbellum Philadelphia to explore how medical models and metaphors helped establish the professional legitimacy of commercial photography while promoting belief in the rehabilitative powers of studio portraiture.