New technologies often breathe new life into older forms. In this tradition, the CD-ROM presents itself as a welcome successor to the book as a vehicle for works of photographic expression. The CD-ROM offers documentary photographers and photojournalists much of what they and their predecessors have demanded and hoped for since these crafts emerged in the 1920s and 1930s.

Just look at what the technology makes possible: vast storage space for data in different forms; high-quality representation of photographic imagery; ease of combining imagery with written and spoken text; design flexibility and versatility; control by the photographer over the editorial process; an inexpensive means of production affordable by the makers of the original material; self-publishing options; varied channels for distribution; the chance for the viewer/reader to interact with the material. These have been the desiderata for documentarians from W. Eugene Smith and Marion Palfi to Eugene Richards and Susan Meiselas. In spite of this promise, what little we have so far in CD-ROMs has gone no more than a half-step past the book as a medium.