Widely regarded as the most influential architect of the twentieth century, Le Corbusier wrote more than fifty books, nearly all of them with extensive illustrative text. Yet in these books he almost never used the photographs he himself took. Rather, the books are most often illustrated with photographs that Le Corbusier appropriated from other publications, nearly always modifying, cropping, and ordering these images before placing them on his pages. Books made from these pages ultimately formed collections; and these collections became essential toLe Corbusier's promotion of his view of modern architecture and modernist ideals. Photography was at the heart of this endeavor.