View Full Version : Books
Bill Pierce
10-08-2007, 10:48
Sirius has suggested we start an online reading list. Good photo books are always a pleasure as our overcrowded shelves testify. But some of the best photo books do a first printing, never do more and then disappear from bookstores. We should probably list not only books we like, but the second hand stores and web sites where books, only year or two old, that have suddenly become rare antiquarian collectors items can be purchased.
I'll start off with "Francesca Woodman," Scalo, ISBN 3-931141-96-9.
In Santa Monica, on the east side of Third St., in the section of the street that is a promenade and blocked from vehicle traffic, there is a wonderful store with a good selection of used photo books. Next time I'm in the area, I'll get the name and the specific address.
Let's not leave out good technical books. Anybody printing and binding their own books or using the web services that will do it for you?
Bill
I've found a lifetime of inspiration and technical advice in the Time|Life Photography Year series of books. I've got 1972 through 1984 and there is A LOT of fantastic photographs and loads of information on just how our tools became the tools they are today.
Even my cat gets something out of 'em!
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1211/1002179134_6eb3e1984e.jpg
victoriapio
10-08-2007, 15:13
A wonderful classroom textbook I would recommend:
American Photography - A Critical History 1945 to the Present (written in 1984) by Jonathan Green and James Friedman
Up through its publication date, this is still an excellent read on the history of photography and the foundations of most major changes.
You can still Google this title and find copies online for less than $20.:D
O.C. Garza
arcana books?
i've done a little bookbinding, but still not good enough or equipped to do a great job.
further note: daniel kelm invented a bookbinding structure that might interest photographers a great deal, as it opens completely flat and you can rearrange photos and make additions fairly easily. it's pretty simple—i can explain to anyone who wants to know.
Many thanks!
Oh! I meant online articles!
I'll never find interesting books in my small town, and maybe you have a few favorite online articles from the digitaljournalist?
I'm not wanting to make work for people and, unfortunately, good books often go out of print over the years.
Hmm, Francesca Woodman is amazing. This is first I've seen. It's very experimental and thoughtful.
spysmart
10-08-2007, 16:20
Faces of the North by Ragnar Axelsson ISBN 9979-3-2592-5
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/c/cc/Axelsson-an.jpg/180px-Axelsson-an.jpg
http://www.rax.is/Index.htm
Phil Borges - Tibetan Portrait ISBN 9780847819577
http://www.philborges.com/images/tpcover.jpg
http://www.philborges.com/
Simon Norfolk - Afghanistan ISBN 978-1899235544
http://www.cofc.edu/halseygallery/PalimpsestAfghanistan/sn_images.htm
http://www.cofc.edu/halseygallery/PalimpsestAfghanistan/enlarged_sn_jpegs/teahouse.jpg
back alley
10-08-2007, 16:26
i started out by reading the books of andreas feininger and david vestal.
i enjoyed reading the daybooks of edward weston and the bio of gene smith.
magazine articles by ralph steiner, bill pierce, jim elder, art goldberg.
loved some of the suff by and about mary ellen mark.
lots of good stuff out there.
sirius, i have some stuff you can look through and have if you like.
joe
Hmm, Francesca Woodman is amazing. This is first I've seen. It's very experimental and thoughtful.
I almost hate to broach this about an obviously deserving photographer, but does anybody besides me suspect that Francesca Woodman wouldn't be quite so celebrated if it weren't for her tragic and poignant backstory?
Sorry, but this is part of my ongoing suspicion that our reaction to photography is only about 40% what we see in it, and maybe 60% (or more) what we've been told about it.
Having said that, and to get back to the topic of this thread, let me nominate a book that actually did change my life as a photographer: Elliott Erwitt's Photographs and Anti-Photographs... not only the pictures in it, but also the accompanying essay "The Man Who Kept Something for Himself."
In fact, it occurs to me that these two thoughts tie together, because one thing that fascinates me about Erwitt's photographs is that they strike me as almost completely "transparent" -- you don't need to be told anything about them. In many cases it's hard to imagine anything even could be said about them. They're complete, self-contained artifacts to which nothing could be added, and to which nothing needs to be added.
I'm not saying that's a necessary criterion for successful photographs, but it's pretty interesting to see someone pull it off! Another artist in another field who strikes me as having this same quality is choreographer Merce Cunningham. Seeing his work is like watching a magic show in which the magician carefully explains to you exactly how he's going to do his next trick... and then demonstrates, step by step, precisely what he's going to do... and then he does the trick, and it's still amazing.
(PS -- I just saw a big Harry Callahan exhibit in Kansas City and felt somewhat the same about his work, but don't know of any books to recommend.)
The books below I highly recommend for what it's worth for everyone's library on photography.
I know it's out of print, but if you can find it - "Notations in Passing" by Nathan Lyons. ISBN-10:0-262-62028-6, ISBN-13:978-0-262-62028-4
Saul Leiter - "Early Color" - ISBN 3865211399
Charles Harbutt - "Travelog" - ISBN 0262080648
Saul Leiter's book has just been published. Harbutt and Lyons' books are classics and really show what "reading" into photography is all about.
nikonhswebmaster
10-08-2007, 16:58
Nan Goldin
I always use Leica
As Art News put it: "In her work Goldin has chronicled drug rehabilitations, terminal illnesses, relationships, and abuse, as well as the quotidian affairs of life, exposing private, often intimate, frequently turbulent, and sometimes disturbing lifestyles. Over time she has assembled a visual biography of herself and the individuals who inhabit her life."
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/d2/Ballad_of_Sexual_Dependency.jpg
more: http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0268/is_7_41/ai_98918665
Bill Pierce
10-08-2007, 17:30
[QUOTE=jlw]I almost hate to broach this about an obviously deserving photographer, but does anybody besides me suspect that Francesca Woodman wouldn't be quite so celebrated if it weren't for her tragic and poignant backstory?
Sorry, but this is part of my ongoing suspicion that our reaction to photography is only about 40% what we see in it, and maybe 60% (or more) what we've been told about it.
Having said that, and to get back to the topic of this thread, let me nominate a book that actually did change my life as a photographer: Elliott Erwitt's Photographs and Anti-Photographs... not only the pictures in it, but also the accompanying essay "The Man Who Kept Something for Himself."]
I was absolutely knocked out by Woodman's pictures, which I first came across in a small gallery in Edinburgh. When I got back home I found out she had started taking pictures when she was 13, her mother and father were artists, we lived in the same neighborhood and she had killed herself. I hadn't known any of that looking at a show of "women photographers" in that gallery. For me, she blew away some better known photographers in that show. I think it's terrible for her mother and father and friends that she died. But her pictures didn't get any better when I found out there wouldn't be any more of them. It just made me sad.
That said, Erwitt is personal hero. We've been seated at the same dinner table a few times, and I have drooled, blathered, talked incessantly, said inappropriate things and been absolutely awe struck.
Bill
xayraa33
10-08-2007, 17:51
Diane Arbus had that tragic ending as Francesca Woodman did.
Book that i've been reading/studying for awhile is The Tao of Photography,seeing beyond seeing, by Philippe L. Gross & S.I. Shapiro ISBN 1-S8008-194-0. Very interesting read. I ordered it off Amazon off the used book section and it came in seperb condition.
Joe Brugger
10-08-2007, 18:13
W. Eugene Smith's "Minamata" would be high on my list of books showing the impact of photojournalism.
Any of Michael Freeman's technical and composition guides qualify, as do Henry Horenstein's accessible books on basic photography, B&W and color, and
of course:
The 15th edition of the Leica Manual.
Tulsa by larry Clark was a huge influence on me and of coarse The Americans by Robert Frank. did not know a rangefinder forum could go this long without mention of the Americans
arcana books?
i've done a little bookbinding, but still not good enough or equipped to do a great job.
further note: daniel kelm invented a bookbinding structure that might interest photographers a great deal, as it opens completely flat and you can rearrange photos and make additions fairly easily. it's pretty simple—i can explain to anyone who wants to know.
Aizan - I'm quite intrigued by the bookbinding structure you were refering to. Can you send a link please?
thanks
Three books that figure highly for me are:
Exiles - Josef Koudelka
Sleeping with Ghosts - Don McCullin
In our time - Magnum
Harry
hofrench@mac.co
10-10-2007, 08:34
The Ongoing Moment, by Geoff Dyer, is a tremendous and wide ranging read about photography that will really get you thinking.
Just this week, I saw a a book entitled China (sur)Real, by Mark Henly, that really impressed me.
saxshooter
10-10-2007, 09:00
Another thumbs up for "In Our Time" by Magnum. It was the first photojournalism book I owned and I credit it with making me become a photojournalist (and buying a Leica M6 -- those cool Magnum group photos showing them with all their Leicas! ;) )
Missed one from my earlier list:
Pages of Experience - Joseph McKenzie
Don't know how widely available this was. Published by Polygon and Third Eye Centre Glasgow. An absolute classic by an outstanding UK photographer.
Harry
nikonhswebmaster
10-10-2007, 15:29
Tulsa by larry Clark was a huge influence on me and of coarse The Americans by Robert Frank. did not know a rangefinder forum could go this long without mention of the Americans
Thinking about Larry Clark,
reminded me of the first rangefinders I saw, those of Charlie Gatewood. I have never been sure of his work, but in 1968 it seemed a glamorous life. http://www.charlesgatewood.com/ (not for the under 18 crowd).
I met him in St. Louis, stayed at an illegal loft/darkroom/home he had in NYC, slept on the floor in 68, with a group of photographers. He had a buddy with two Nikon SPs, got me started with Nikon, within a month, I bought an SP from a photographer at the Post Dispatch. If only time travel was possible, I would go back and live it more fully.
Badlands is the book to buy... but you can just look at his book Wall Street, which won the Leica Medal of Excellence for Outstanding Humanistic Photojournalism.
http://secure1.netbilling.com/merc_images/flashprod/251/10196_small.jpg
Bill Pierce
10-10-2007, 18:27
Thinking about Larry Clark,
reminded me of the first rangefinders I saw, those of Charlie Gatewood. I have never been sure of his work, but in 1968 it seemed a glamorous life. http://www.charlesgatewood.com/ (not for the under 18 crowd).
I met him in St. Louis, stayed at an illegal loft/darkroom/home he had in NYC, slept on the floor in 68, with a group of photographers. He had a buddy with two Nikon SPs, got me started with Nikon, within a month, I bought an SP from a photographer at the Post Dispatch. If only time travel was possible, I would go back and live it more fully.
Wonderful to see Charlie mentioned.
(By the way, everybody in NYC lived in illegal lofts. Later the fire department started the artist in residence program. The sign AIR7 on an industrial building meant an artist had a loft on the seventh floor. Normally, with non residential buildings, the fireman put out the fire. When they saw an AIR sign, they rescued the tenant and then put out the fire. Later the City set up an arts committee that judged whether you were a worthy enough artist to be allowed to have a legal residence in some of the loft spaces in Manhattan that were being deserted by light industries; so, all of us who were established got certified while some of the beginners who needed these large affordable work/living spaces were turned down.)
Because of his interests, a lot of people make presumptions about Charlie. He is one of the most kind, generous and principled photographers I know. It's been a couple of years since I last saw him when he visited New York. My loss.
Bill
nikonhswebmaster
10-10-2007, 19:17
Bill I was one of those AIR types... got certified by the city as an artist. You actually had to send them slides.
When lofts became legal for everyone I held on from 1973 until 2003 then they finally got me, my building de-controlled by the real-estate boom in lower manhattan after 9/11.
Charlie was really worried about the landlord I guess, he would wake us all at 8, put away all the bedding and open up the darkroom. No sign of living. I only stayed there a week, while I was doing a photo show at the Electric Circus on St. Marks.
Then back to St. Louis, the army, protests, grad school, then finally back to NYC, etc, but that is another long (or short) story.
I think I first met Gatewood in 1970 after his first. of many trips to Mardi Gras. I am still wondering who he was with on that trip, a photographer who when to Missouri U School of Journalism, and had two black Nikon rangefinders. He hooked me.
Brooklyn now for me, I think they are going to turn Manhattan into a museum.
+++++++
Just noticed my tastes run a little toward the offbeat Gatewood - Goldin - but I buy and look at everyone's books. Especially like large format German work lately.
I don't own much photography, in fact a Cindy Sherman and Laurie Simmons the only two well known, may be time to trade some more. I wonder who others collect? Might be a good discussion.
__
Bill Pierce
10-11-2007, 10:21
When books are mentioned, it's going to take a lot of time and effort for any of us to track down a book we don't have. I wonder if we should add favorite websites to the conversation? That way all of us can follow up on a suggestion immediately.
Bill
P.S. Here are two of my favorites.
http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/
It's daily entries are eclectic and good company to your first wake up coffee. Sometimes they will have the same effect.
http://www.luminous-landscape.com/
More than just landscapes; much about craftsmanship.
It was my birthday recently and I was given a book that I have been wanting for some time:
Jeanloup Sieff - 40 years of Photography.
Page after page of quality B+W images.
Harry
imajypsee
11-17-2007, 08:59
as well as looking at photo books.
So for reading about photography, I'm currently engaged inThe Education of a Photographer (http://www.amazon.com/Education-Photographer-Charles-H-Traub/dp/158115450X/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1195321554&sr=1-1) edited by Charles H. Traub, Steven Heller, and Adam B. Bell. The essay by Brian Palmer on William Klein, wherein Klein differentiates himself from Cartier-Bresson is worth the modest price of the book.
I also second the choice of Geoff Dyer's The Ongoing Moment. (http://www.amazon.com/Ongoing-Moment-Geoff-Dyer/dp/1400031680/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1195321993&sr=1-1)
And, any book by John Szarkowski.
For photo books, I look at just about everything. There's a new series by Photofile of modestly priced photo books; the four that I own are on Bill Brandt, Cartier-Bresson (http://www.amazon.com/Henri-Cartier-Bresson-Photofile-Michael-Brenson/dp/0500410607/ref=pd_sim_b_title_3), Elliot Erwitt, and my favorite of the bunch, Josef Koudelka. In fact this thread caused me to click on the Aperture website to order the new book out on Koudelka (http://www.aperture.org/store/books-detail-oos.aspx?ID=548), only to find it sold out and being offered on Amazon starting at $185.00 and up!! I found one at the regular price at Powells in Portland, OR.
Other works on my shelf include the colorful lomography book, the black and white work of Charlie Waite, and a history of the snapshot from 1888 to 1978. I like it all.
I have one serious weakness- and it is not trying to corner the market on M2's! i do collect and hoard books on photography. I have limited myself to photojournalism and the vaque label " books that i like".
On my desk, at the moment are a couple of current favourites:
"Earthlings" by Richard Kalvar (Flammarion). We have known Richard for many years and this is a great book of his work. Funny and thought provoking at the same time. Richard is a long time Magnum member and this is very much his private work. The cover shot alone is worth the price of admission. It is one of these shots that makes you happy, even on a grey and dismal morning like today!
"Havana" by Burt Glinn. This is a must for any Nikon Rf shooter/user/collector. This is Burt Glinns account of the Fidel Castro arrival in Havana 1959. It is a wonderful story about the heady days of photo-journalism. Fuelled by a diet of rum,chicken and cigars and with three Nikon SP's and, judging from the contact sheets shown, a dog's breakfast of films, Glinn covers the search for Fidel and his triumphant arrival in Havana. It was published by Fototeca de Cuba and Umbrage Editions in New York.
"Empire" James Whitlow Delano. This is an interesting book. Delano is very much a Sino-file and his pictures are very strange at first. Using an old M2 and a less than pristine 35f2.8 Summaron, he manages to convey an image of China that is both beatiful and haunting. It is printed in a very dark and solemn style - looks almost like platinum/palladium printing. It took me a while to get to like it, but now it is one of my favourites! Published by 5 Continent.
"I do I do I do" by Chien Chi Chang. he is young member of Magnum New York and this book is about the "wedding racket" in Taiwan. Great eye and very funny! Difficult to find as it was printed in Taiwan by Premier Foundation and a print-run of only 800. text is in English.
One book NOBODY should be without is David Hurns/Bill Jays "On being a Photographer" Here you get ideas and solutions to the important questions! "Why do we take pictures" and the importance of good shoes!
I do have the classics too, HCB's almost complete output, Jean Loup Sieff's books, Ralph Gibson, Norm Seider, Sudek, Brassai etc. All in all the library holds about 750 volumes at the moment, but I keep adding to it!
Hmm, have you ever seen Robert Capa's "Death in the Making" - printed before the end of the Spanish civil war. I found it in a book store in Boston years ago! Wherever I go I do search out Antiquarian book stores rather than camera stores. Thank God for Mail and FedEx to get this stuff home from Tokyo or Paris.
vincentbenoit
11-17-2007, 15:06
Luc Delahaye, "WINTERREISE". Phaidon, ISBN 0-7148-4339-3.
"beauty and sadness in equal measure"
Vincent
mike goldberg
11-17-2007, 15:12
A book that has inspired me through the years is "The Concerned Photographer." It features the work of six early "Magnum types," Werner Bischof, Robert Capa, David [Chim] Seymour, Andre Kertesz, Leonard Freed and Dan Weiner. At the end, each of the photographers has a blurb about his pix. Originally published in 1968 and edited by Cornell Capa, it is still available at Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw/103-3163608-5823067?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=the+concerned+photographer&x=0&y=0
For a good read:
Dialogue with photography, Hill and Cooper. Interviews with most of the significant photographers in the first part of the last century - Strand, Man Ray, Beaton, Lartigue, Brassai, Kertesz, Rodger, Cartier-Bresson, Doiseau, Bayer, Henry Holmes Smith, Gersheim, Brett Weston, Bravo, Porter, Eugene Smith, Gilpin, Cunningham, Bullock, Minor White, Newhall, and Adams. (Out of print)
A Choice of Weapons. Gordon Park's autobiography
I do not recall in what book I first saw the work of Ralph Eugene Meatyard, but seeing his images were transformative. After that I dove into many other books. I ended up learning my craft through Adams' series and Zone VI Workshop.
Viewing Minor White's work was equal to discovering Meatyard. I have very few books in my collection now. This next year I will start rebuilding.
tedwhite
11-17-2007, 19:34
"Conversations with the Dead," by Danny Lyon. Inside a Texas state prison. Gave new meaning to the phrase "up close and personal."
I have no idea how he conned the Texas State Department of Corrections into letting him have such free reign. Never seen anything quite like it.
Ted
Books. Reminds me I have to take one of the shelves out of the big bookcase and somehow reattach it--it recently collapsed under the weight of too many photography books.
Off the top of my head, I can recommend the 2006 book from Aperture Wiliam Christenberry. A book evocative of place.
An old book I recently obtained that still kicks butt 40 years later: David Douglas Duncan's Self Portrait USA.
Very early on Dorchester Days by Eugene Richards and Danny Lyon's Pictures from the New World influenced me greatly. If you ever get a chance to see Richards' "Few Comforts or Surprises: The Arkansas Delta" you will be richly rewarded. It's genius in the making.
A few favorites below:
larry clark
tulsa
teenage lust
lee friedlander
like a one-eyed cat
self-portrait
robert frank
the americans
josef koudelka
exiles
mary ellen mark
passport
tony mendoza
ernie: a photographer's memoir
gilles peress
telex iran
sylvia plachy
unguided tour
alex webb
hot-light half-made worlds
garry winogrand
figments from the real world
sebastio salgado
other americas
henri cartier-bresson
photographer
One of the characteristics of the photo book market is the limited production runs for most books - you really need to get a book soon after it's first released. After a couple of years the print run is sold out and it's only available secondhand - and prices skyrocket if the book is any good.
Harry Lime
11-21-2007, 01:10
"Earthlings" by Richard Kalvar - I second this suggestion. Very good book. The introduction should be required reading for street photographers.
"China Obscura" by Mark Leong
A good technical book that I just finished reading is "Camera Lenses: From Box Camera to Digital" by Gregory Smith. I had to read it for some certification stuff that I am working on but rather enjoyed it as well. ISBN 0-8194-6093-1
It's published by the Society of Professional Imaging Engineers (SPIE) and can be bought off Their website and I think you can get it from Amazon as well. The book answered allot of technical questions I had about lenses and resolution. Also, put down in Black and White just how much better film is then digital when it comes to resolution.
crawdiddy
11-21-2007, 06:27
I think this is a fascinating book: Secret Knowledge (Rediscovering the lost techniques of the old masters) by David Hockney.
Hockney proposes that several renaissance painters (Velazquez, Ingres, Caravaggio, Rembrandt, Vermeer, etc.) may have used optical devices, such as the Camera Obscura, to refine their technique of realistic perspective. His book includes many illustrations.
The book is somewhat controversial, and many in the academic community have attacked him (rather viciously, IMO).
One criticism I read is that he reached his conclusion and then collected evidence to support his claims. Granted, that approach does not withstand the rigor prescribed for laboratory research. But Art History isn't exactly a laboratory science, is it?
I personally don't see what the fuss is all about. Analyzing the tools of an artist does not invalidate their talent.
Anyway, the book is fascinating whether you agree or disagree.
...in a similar vein, there are some interesting books of contemporary photos using this technique by photographer Abelardo Morell.
tedwhite
11-21-2007, 12:02
I don't recall whether anyone has mentioned Susan Mieselas, the Magnum photographer, especially her books on Nicaragua and Carnival Strippers.
Bill Pierce
11-21-2007, 14:30
I don't recall whether anyone has mentioned Susan Mieselas, the Magnum photographer, especially her books on Nicaragua and Carnival Strippers.
Ted -
I run into Susan every few trips to NYC. In fact, the book she edited on El Salvador got layed out on the floor on my NY loft. I, too, am a giant Meiselas fan. Did you know there's a new edition of Strippers with some added pictures? It first came out in conjunction with a traveling exhibit. I suppose the exhibit is now retired, but, hopefully, the book is still around. That's the problem with photo books. 6 months out and they're collectors items on Ebay.
Bill
One criticism I read is that he reached his conclusion and then collected evidence to support his claims. Granted, that approach does not withstand the rigor prescribed for laboratory research. But Art History isn't exactly a laboratory science, is it?
And that is the problem with art history and art criticism. Some writer comes up with a nifty phrase (and it is usually writers) like "art makes you think" or some other nonsense and declares it like it was true. What you get is a book of platitudes and fuzzy thinking which goes and confuses the general populace because they end up believing this rubbish and then one person decides to pursue an art they have all this baggage that hinders more than it helps.
One other thing, artist are the worst authority on art.
Happy Thanksgiving!
tedwhite
11-21-2007, 19:19
Thanks, Bill.
I've admired her work since I saw those amazing photos she took in Nicaragua, when she was documenting the Contras, and also the photos in the village wherein the counter-terrorism branch of the army massacred everyone, men, women, and children.
I was in Nicaragua in 1975, when the Somozistas owned the countryside during the day and the Sandanistas during the night. When I made the error of mentioning to someone in a hotel that I was a "freelance photojournalist" I was later "kidnapped" in a friendly way by the Sandanistas and taken to a secret meeting in a nearby town. Everyone wore baseball caps and bandanas and I was surprised at the number of women in the group, some of whom had obviously attended universities in the US and spoke perfect English. I learned that they wanted me to take their story back to the US as they were having little or no luck with the US establishment press.
I had no luck, either.
I've spent a lot on photo books this year and would highly recommend these five for different reasons: René Burri Photographs, Martin Munkacsi Martin Munkacsi, Édouard Boubat The Monograph, Josef Koudelka Koudelka, Erich Lessing, Revolution in Hungary. The Édouard Boubat book is particularly stunning.
One photographer who rarely gets a mention is Willy Ronis. I have a number of his books and he has an incredible eye that is informed by his humanity and sense of humor. He was completely overshadowed by another Parisian-based photographer but he is as good and more compassionate. A good introduction is Stolen Moments beautifully printed and inexpensively published by Taschen, for whom Ronis now works (he is in his 90's).
When I posted about Ronis in another forum a member there, Steve Unsworth told me that if I liked Ronis then I would also like Boubat. He was so right! I also urge any Ronis fans to read the Édouard Boubat book.
2tcreative
11-22-2007, 06:49
Now this is a valuable thread!! Not like the time-wasting ones on which lens is better, etc.
For me the following books have been especially important:
"In the Land of Light" by Rodney Smith (ISBN: 0-395-34425-5) - I came across a printer's proof in a used book store in Dallas. No cover images or anything, but when I opened it up it was an epiphany for me. Wonderful images!
"As I See It" by John Leongard (ISBN: 086565167-1) - Love John's work and words.
"Tropism" by Ralph Gibson (ISBNl 89381-255-2) - Almost anything that Raplh has done inspires me.
"Early Color" by Saul Leiter (ISBN: 3-86521-139-9) - Second someone's early pick of this book. I have pre-ordered his other one "Early Black and White". Another inspirational book of images.
"Arnold Newman" by Philip Brookman (ISBN: 3-8228-7193-1) - Arnold was a genius when it came to environmental portraits. His ability to crop the negative to just the right composition was a talent.
"Seeing Gardens" (ISBN: 0-7922-7956-5) and "Stay This Moment" (ISBN: 0-9734738-72-6) by Sam Abell - One of many National Geographic photographers I admire.
"Portraits of America" by William Albert Allard (ISBN: 0-7922-6418-5) - Another NG photographer, he has other books I would also recommend with a great eye for the unusual and a real character as well.
"W. Eugene Smith - Master of the Photographic Essay" by William S. Johnson (ISBN: unknown), publisher Aperture - Many photographs that have not been published before from this legend. Laid out chronologically by assignments and personal work.
"Amish Odyssey" by Bill Coleman (ISBN: 0-912383-49-6) - a portrait photographer in State College, Penn. Wonderful work on the Amish!!
Continue this thread as a 'sticky' somewhere!!!! This should be required reading by all forum members.
Chuck Albertson
12-08-2007, 15:02
The new "Magnum Magnum" is excellent, albeit very expensive. It was reviewed in Saturday's Financial Times:
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/6ae0bf4e-a13b-11dc-9f34-0000779fd2ac.html
The reviewer's comment on the sheer size of the book are worth noting. It ships in a cardboard case with its own handle, and a good thing, too. I thought I was going to have to hail a cab to get it home, but I was eventually able to wrestle the pig aboard a bus, where it took up its own seat. The reproduction of the images is superb, especially the color (prompted me to take some Kodachrome out of the fridge). I still can't figure out what Rene Burri thinks of Martin Parr's work, though.
mackigator
12-08-2007, 15:52
Thank you for such a great thread!
I just "read" Elliot Erwitt, Photographs and Anti-Photographs (used <$5.00 without dust jacket). Also finished off On Being A Photographer: A Practical Guide, David Hurn and Bill Jay. Great books.
Seasons Greetings and I hope that you received your fair share of photographic books in your Christmas Stocking.
I received two books that I have had my eye on for some time.
Unknown Bown 1947 -1967 - Photographs by Jane Bown - Published by The Observer.
Outstanding 6x6 Rolleiflex Photographs.
Willy Ronis - Published by Taschen.
Good quality B+W very much in the Doisneau mould with some very good 1950's portraits.
Regards
Harry
The reviewer's comment on the sheer size of the book are worth noting. It ships in a cardboard case with its own handle, and a good thing, too. I thought I was going to have to hail a cab to get it home, but I was eventually able to wrestle the pig aboard a bus, where it took up its own seat. The reproduction of the images is superb, especially the color (prompted me to take some Kodachrome out of the fridge). I still can't figure out what Rene Burri thinks of Martin Parr's work, though.The package weighs 17lbs, and I was lucky enough to get it delivered from Amazon. This is a wonderful book which I feel will become a classic. Additionally I also really like the new Steidl/ICP catalog of the Gerda Taro exhibit at the ICP (ending Jan 6 I think).
Santa brought Erwitt's Photographs and Antiphotographs. Great stuff.
Chuck Albertson
05-05-2008, 15:11
Ted -
I run into Susan every few trips to NYC. In fact, the book she edited on El Salvador got layed out on the floor on my NY loft. I, too, am a giant Meiselas fan. Did you know there's a new edition of Strippers with some added pictures? It first came out in conjunction with a traveling exhibit. I suppose the exhibit is now retired, but, hopefully, the book is still around. That's the problem with photo books. 6 months out and they're collectors items on Ebay.
Bill
I just picked up the new (softcover) edition of Susan Meiselas' book on Kurdistan. To do the layout on a floor, she would have had to rent Madison Square Garden! It's quite a work, described as a visual history of Kurdistan. It has only a handful of her own pictures, the rest being archival material that she collected, and essays by other photographers. If I recall correctly, she used most of that MacArthur grant she got many years ago to compile the first edition (1998). The new edition is updated to include developments since then, and at $50 it is half the price of the first edition (which is getting hard to find). Well worth it if you're interested in the history/current events of that part of the Middle East.
Sisyphus
05-05-2008, 20:16
Winterreise--Luc Delahaye--isbn 0714839973
Flophouse--Text by David Isay and Stacy Abramson photos by Harvey Wang
isbn--0375503226
River of Colour--Raghubir Singh--isbn 0714839965
Alex Webb--Crossings and Amazon
Josef Joudelka--Gypsies
Gary Winogrand--1964
Sally Mann--Immediate Family
vBulletin® v3.6.8, Copyright ©2000-2010, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.