Miles Orvell es catedrático de English and American Studies en la Temple University de Filadelfia (EE.UU.). Ha escrito numerosos textos sobre arte y fotografía, entre ellos cabe destacar: The Real Thing: Imitation and Authenticity in American Culture, 1880-1940 (1989), After the Machine: Visual Arts and the Erasing of Cultural Boundaries (1995); and American Photography (Oxford History of Art Series, 2003).