Important Photo Books I should see before I die?

[Pioneer]

Two books that I am currently reading that I strongly recommend.

Photo Icons - Eastman Kodak House Image Collection
Dorothea Lange - A Life Without Limits

 

[benlees]

Great place to see all sorts of photography:http://www.americansuburbx.com/

 

[Pablito]

The only photography book you need:
The Decisive Moment
Henri Cartier Bresson
However, be prepared to pay up to $5,000 or more for a really nice copy with the Matisse cover.

 

[jan normandale]

"top ten photography books of all time" ... here's one selection from the captioned internet search

http://elizabethavedon.blogspot.ca/2010/11/top-3-selling-photography-books-of-all.html

 

[geertvn]

Herbert List : The Monograph (or 'The Essential Herbert List', which is the same I think in paperback)
Ragnar Axelsson : Last Days of the Arctic

 

[finguanzo]

Josef Koudelka - Chaos
Josef Sudek - Prague Panoramic

 

[Gordon Coale]

"American Photographs" Walker Evans
"The Americans" Robert Frank

Both in glorious new editions. The printing quality is amazing.

 

[lynnb]

My favourite HCB book is Henri Cartier-Bresson: Photographer. Good reproduction quality, one image per page, nice size.

John Szarkowski's Looking At Photographs and Stephen Shore's The Nature of Photographs will give you thoughtful insights into the photographs you see.

I also have PhotoBox and recommend it.

If you see a photographer's work that you might like but are unsure about whether to commit to a large volume, the Thames & Hudson Photofile series and the Phaidon 55's series are a good way to get an inexpensive overview of a photographer's work.

 

[denizg7]

this is a good thread.

there should be a coffee table book about the top 100 photo books you should look at before you die

 

[Richard G]

John Szarkowski's 'The Photographer's Eye'
André Kertész of Paris and New York (?Thames and Hudson), similar size and format to the HCB Lynn referred to.
Manuel Alvarez Bravo by Elenia Poniatowska
Eisenstaedt's Guide to Photography, Viking
Saul Leiter. Early Color.
and others....
The little Photopoche series including the ones on HCB, Lartigue and Werner Bischof.

 

[bk1970]

This may be my favorite photo book, Mario Giacomelli's monograph:

http://http://de.phaidon.com/store/photography/mario-giacomelli-9780714846040/

Such a great poet.

 

[grapejohnson]

Diane Arbus' book (titled Diane Arbus) is probably my favorite book of photography.
http://www.amazon.com/Diane-Arbus/dp/B002JBTVF8/

(Edit) I also have a book by relatively unknown photographer 方大曾 (Fang Da Tseng), who documented the Japanese Occupation following WWI, which was put out by Photographers International. It's absolutely amazing, but pretty rare, as I can't really find it online.

 

[palec]

if I had to pick just one book, it would be
Jason Eskenazi: Wonderland

but there are other great photobooks, classic and contemporary, mentioned here

if you would like to learn more about history and evolution of photobook and get an idea of books you might not be able to get into your hands, The Photobook: A History vol 1, 2 (and next year also vol. 3) are great for this.

 

[gns]

this is a good thread.

there should be a coffee table book about the top 100 photo books you should look at before you die

Like this?...http://www.amazon.com/The-Book-101-Books-Photographic/dp/0967077443

 

[Hibbs]

As there are many that are either out of print or difficult to find, I have bought these two volumes:

The Photobook: A History Volume 1

The Photobook: A History Volume 2

~ Hibbs

 

[lynnb]

originally posted by palec:
if I had to pick just one book, it would be
Jason Eskenazi: Wonderland

I also can recommend Wonderland. Another: Like You've Never Been Away by Paul Trevor.

Books are very good, but don't forget to go look at high quality, original prints in a gallery. It's instructive to see the difference between quality books and original prints. Few books do the originals justice, those that have high repro quality are usually very expensive (but not always).

You will learn for yourself which publishers produce quality work. Steidl is one - their reproduction of August Sander's People of The Twentieth Century boxed set is an excellent example (brilliant set, too, if your budget stretches that far).

Mike Johnston over on The Online Photographer also occasionally recommends good photo books.

 

[steveniphoto]

Jason Eskenazi's Wonderland is a masterpiece.. i also recommend it.

also:

The Americans by Frank
Shashin Yo Sayonara by Moriyama
Subway by Davidson
Figments from the Real World by Winogrand
William Eggleston's Guide
Utatane by Kawauchi

these are some of my favorites at least.

 

[Alex Krasotkin]

I can't really advise, but I have about 100 photography books on my bookshelves.

 

[Harry S.]

Contemporary works:

Pieter Hugo- "The Hyena & Other Men"
Simon Roberts- "Motherland" and/or "We English"
Jan Kempenaers- "Spomenik" and/or "Picturesque"
Alec Soth- "From here to there: Alec Soth's America"
Roman Bezjak- "Socialist Modern"



Others-
Eggleston's Guide
"The Suffering of Light" by Alex Webb
"Uncommon Places" by Stephen Shore
Anything by Avedon
"Subway" by Bruce Davidson

I dont really recommend "The Americans" by Robert Frank. I consider it to be important in the grand scheme of things (photographic) but ultimately underwhelming by todays' standards.

 

[Tony Whitney]

Among all my photo books, there's one I return to again and again - possibly because it covers a period long ago when I was 20-something and living in London. It's Birth of the Cool by David Bailey - just outstanding! TW