Favorite photographers/photo books?

[scottgee1]

Yankee Nomad by David Douglas Duncan. When I was a pre-teen, my father belonged to a book club and asked me if I'd read it if he bought me a copy. I more than read it -- I devoured it and still have my copy almost 40 years later. It is very well bound and printed. The style may be somewhat dated, but the breadth of his coverage and technical skill are remarkable. And he's a damn good writer. I have a special fondness for this one because it inspired my interest in photography.

Henri Cartier-Bresson: The Man, the Image and the World: A Retrospective. A splendid overview of an amazing artist.

Anything by Richard Avedon. His work is easy to dimiss as "just fashion" but rewards repeated study. Autobiography juxtaposes seemingly dissimilar images in a way that allows the reader to see the connections.

Pretty much anything by Sebastiao Salgado except the book on Polio -- only because a lot of the pix are so similar. Otherwise I find Terra and Migrations very strong.

There are a lot more but these pop to mind.

ScottGee1

 

[tom_f77]

Lots of good stuff mentioned in this thread already, but only one mention each for Friedlander and Winogrand; shame!

I suppose if had to pick a favourite, Tony Ray-Jones. Or maybe James Ravilious...

Tom

 

[IGMeanwell]

Pete, the entire set (20 books, IIRC) was available at one point. I forget where, though. 😕 I'm seeing the books repackaged as sets of five—for example, 5 Women Photographers, 5 Documentary Photographers. Amazon has them, and they have 5 Street Photographers, but I think it must be new because they have no information on it. I couldn't find it on the Phaidon web site, either. I'm always on the look out for them, too.

.

yeah I picked up on thanksgiving weekend the Master Photographers set

1)Walker Evans
2)W. Eugene Smith
3)Josef Sudek
4)Nadar
5)Andre Kertesz

I love them ... very interesting and decent size

 

[canonetc]

One of my fav's is "Humanity and Inhumanity: the Photography of George Rodger." Compelling, compassionate images from a true adventurer.

"Requiem", a book of the photographers (including North Vietnamese) killed in the Vietnam War (such as Robert Capa).

"Werner Bischof." A master, no doubt.

"Eve Arnold: In Retrospect". Very inspiring.

Phil Borges book on Tibetans is simply beautiful.

So many more to list, not enough space... 🙂

Chris
canonetc