fotomeow
name under my name
Hey, we have a new (or maybe I'm just not paying attention) Books sub-forum here on RFF.
Lot's of members recommending good books there, so don't litter here
Go there!
thats right, there is a PHOTO BOOKS section, and one thread that has been going strong for 3 years now, "Latest additions to your library",
found here
Or at http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=58268
nightfly
Well-known
Really depends on your tastes. I really like gritty black and white street photography but lately color photography has been catching my eye:
Stephen Shore- Uncommon Places
William Eggleston- William Eggleston's Guide
William Klein- New York 1954-55
Daido Moriyama- 1971 New York
Joseph Koudelka- Chaos
Stephen Shore- Uncommon Places
William Eggleston- William Eggleston's Guide
William Klein- New York 1954-55
Daido Moriyama- 1971 New York
Joseph Koudelka- Chaos
Chris101
summicronia
I dunno - sometimes a fresh look requires us to look outside the ... book forum. Perhaps the key to the OPs question is the inspirational part, rather than the book part. Or maybe it's just too easy to get lost in the crowd in a 3 year old thread. I pass that thread up more often than not (although I have posted in it a couple times.)
Anyway, when I need inspiration, I look at things outside the norm. My favorite OTN guy these days is Robert Heinecken. This guy makes Seranno look prim.
Anyway, when I need inspiration, I look at things outside the norm. My favorite OTN guy these days is Robert Heinecken. This guy makes Seranno look prim.
raydm6
Yay! Cameras! 🙈🙉🙊┌( ಠ_ಠ)┘ [◉"]
I wasn't aware and just happened to come across André Kertész: The Polaroids. Wonderful images and vision.
petronius
Veteran
"Black, white and Things" by Robert Frank
Anything published from Mario Giacomelli
Anything published from Mario Giacomelli
Erik van Straten
Veteran
"The Americans" by Robert Frank, the LARGE edition.
The first printing of "Cartier-Bresson Photographer", the American edition, 1980.
The first printing of "Cartier-Bresson Photographer", the American edition, 1980.
Brooktaw
Established
I would recommend two books by Geoff Dyer that are about photographs.
The Ongoing Moment
and
See/Saw
I would also recommend getting a local bricks and mortar bookstore to find these for you.
The Ongoing Moment
and
See/Saw
I would also recommend getting a local bricks and mortar bookstore to find these for you.
Richard G
Veteran
The Photographer‘s Eye is also a good introduction. Also Szarkowski. Stephen Shore’s The Nature of Photographs is very pure, and clear, and deep. It’s a Phaidon paperback. I bought it new in a bookshop within the last ten years for less than $20 USD. A minor miracle I have not forgotten.
Beyond education there is Josef Koudelka’s Exiles. That book will make you feel that only now are you seeing what a photograph can be.
Beyond education there is Josef Koudelka’s Exiles. That book will make you feel that only now are you seeing what a photograph can be.
JohnWolf
Well-known
Why a “massive buy”? If it’s inspiration you’re after, buy one great book in the genre you shoot and go deeply into it. Then practice, even emulate, what you learn. If you need more, repeat. My two cents, anyway.
John
John
Dogman
Veteran
I agree that a "massive buy" is probably not a good idea. Two or three books should get you started and the Szarkowski book is a fine starting point. I would also throw in any books you find on the work of Eugene Atget. Atget was likely the birth father of modern photography. Post modern? Dunno. Maybe we don't have a mother/father of post modern photography yet.
Richard G
Veteran
The importance of Atget and his particular genius for showing something deeper than the straight image are easily overlooked. Great to see him mentioned here. I never tire of looking at Reflecting Pool, St Cloud. Atget must have really understood Le Nôtre to have taken that low vantage point.
It is refreshing to have a new thread on books. The other is now encyclopedic and a novice would get lost in it.
Re a bunch of books: I feel badly if I buy even just two at once. It’s an excess and robs each of the proper attention, and even reverence I should give it.
It is refreshing to have a new thread on books. The other is now encyclopedic and a novice would get lost in it.
Re a bunch of books: I feel badly if I buy even just two at once. It’s an excess and robs each of the proper attention, and even reverence I should give it.
JohnGellings
Well-known
Guys, this thread is 13 years old. I wonder what the OP bought and if he still cares…
raydm6
Yay! Cameras! 🙈🙉🙊┌( ಠ_ಠ)┘ [◉"]
As an alternative, I find local Public Libraries and College Libraries to be a great resource for photo book browsing, discovery, and borrowing.
mconnealy
Well-known
Salgado and Brandt for their use of photography in support of noble causes and a general commitment to excellence in the quality of their images.
sojournerphoto
Veteran
I wasn't aware and just happened to come across André Kertész: The Polaroids. Wonderful images and vision.
Just to add another
Here, Far Away - Pentti Sammallahti
40 year retrospective
Edited to add that I’ve just seen what this costs now! If you can find a copy it’s well worth a look.
Richard G
Veteran
That Here Far Away is indeed wonderful. In the league of Koudelka’s Exiles but subtler.
yossi
Well-known
If I have the fund, I would buy this book: Mary Ellen Mark: The Book of Everything