Jeffrey W. Cody and Frances Terpak, eds. Brush and Shutter: Early Photography in China. Put out by Getty from their collection of China photographs, it includes essays by several art scholars and Chinese historians (including my advisor at Berkeley, Yeh Wen-hsin). It is one of the few explorations of early domestic Chinese photography, including specific photographers and studios in the mid-19th through mid-20th centuries, and it will almost certainly be a part of my future course on East Asian Photography at SLC. The reproductions are quite good.
Joel Sternfeld, American Prospects, 2nd ed. (1st ed. is really expensive these days, at $1500 or so; Joel told me that he has 300 signed copies salted away as an inheritance for his son!) Large format "social landscape" images from the late 1970s and 1980s. Fine sense of color and irony that approaches a wry subversion -- reminds me of Stephen Shore's Uncommon Places, but with a greater social component.
Joel Sternfeld, Stranger Passing. Large format street portraits from across the country. Thoroughly enjoyed this on first pass through, but haven't had time yet to digest it more.
Joel Sternfeld, iDubai -- this was actually a gift from Joel, suitably inscribed with a witty comment, since we will be colleagues at Sarah Lawrence College beginning in the fall -- though in very different fields, of course. All small prints (3 to a page) made with his iPhone in the malls of Dubai, where conspicuous consumption and shopping seem to be a joyless burden even when conducted in the company of friends and family.
