Five books or Henry Wessel - Which book to get?

[DSkjaeve]

I would like to purchase my first Henry Wessel book. I'm a bit unsure about which one to get. The choice is between:

Five Books, Steidl 2005 - 126$ used - 150$ new
Henry Wessel, Steidl 2008 - 150$ used

(Prices include shipping to Norway)

Anyone have both? Has anyone seen actual prints from Mr. Wessel and can comment on print quality? How are the essays?

I'm still hoping to find them to a better price. My max budget is around 115$ although I'm not counting on finding a better deal. If anyone has a like-new copy to send me for a good price, you have a buyer.

 

[Michael Markey]

Some years ago now I bought Henry Wessel on the strength of a review in an old copy of BW magazine .
I think the review was by Mike Thomas.
Lovely book but I haven`t seen s copy of Five Books so can`t help you there.

 

[aizan]

i have both, but i'd hate to pay that much over list price. "five books" was $90 and "henry wessel" was $60.

i've only seen maybe half a dozen prints, and the print quality, binding, and essays are fine but nothing all that special.

why not get one of his newer books?

 

[telenous]

Have a look at this link, it compares the two works you are interested in:
http://5b4.blogspot.gr/2007/04/two-henry-wessel-books-from-steidl.html

I don't have the five book set you mention, but comparing photos that appear in both Henry Wessel (the monograph) and the New Topographics (another Steidl title where there's a section on Wessel), I find Jeff Ladd to be absolutely spot on in his assessment. Wessel's photographs have a particular translucent quality unique in his work and he's also one of the best printers around so it's no mean task to transfer his work in a book. Normally I'd say that you wouldn't be disappointed by anything printed by Steidl but in this case the monograph might be one tiny (because it is tiny) misstep on the part of the publisher.

.

 

[DSkjaeve]

Thank you for your comments and suggestions. Judging by the link you posted telenous, it seems that Five Books might be better printed, and that it might be a better choice.

Aizan: I might get his Incidents book down the line. I have several photographers whose work I like to study and I try to invest in books that covers much of their career (or was important in one way or the other for the artist/photography). It seemed natural to consider these two when it came to Wessel.