References

M

modsoul

Guest
Hi fellas,

Anyone has links and books about post-war development of photography? I'm particularly interested in photography from the 60s onwards. It would be very nice if they could cover the period until now. Any suggestions or recommended books?

Besides, anyone got any ideas about what cameras the masters used. Though I know good photos don't depend on the equipments, I would like to know it for fun. I know most of the Magnum members used Leica. It's very difficult to find these inforamtion on the web. I once tried a whole boring afternoon to find out what Nan Goldin uses. But there came nothing.

Thanks all!

Cheers,
Max
 
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Max, I think even the photogs don't really care what camera they shoot with. They picked a system a long time ago and stuck with it for one reason or another. I've been to a few seminars recently and none of the photogs discussed their camera, and I didn't dare to ask them about it. 🙂
I think you'll have a hard time finding much information about the photogs and their cameras. The best thing would be to find a photo where you can see the photog in action, or the odd interview in American Photo (or any other British, German, French, US photo magazine) for instance. But even in the biography photo books you'll hardly ever find much information on cameras and lenses used.
 
By the way, any reference for movements and periods of photography?

Max
 
If you look at Magnumphoto.com there are examples of Bresson in the area concerning him, with his cameras. I think you'll have to look at the bookstores or libraries for others.

Todd
 
I have a few books that I would recommend.

The first is Bystander: a history of street photography. The other is 150 years of photo journalism. The former is a wonderfully detailed book and IMO a must-read for any street shooter. The latter is really what the title suggest.

I've read André Kertész by Pierre Borhan as well as Brassaï by Sayag Lionel-Marie. These books offer great insights into both photogs but also into the cultural and artistic movements of the 1930's. Both are very good reads, and full of great shots.

Another bio, about Dutch photog Eva Besnyö, in both English and Dutch, is also a great read, with loads of photos, and also offers nice insights in European photography in the first half of the 20th century.

I found Winogrand - figments from the real world by Szarowski also very interesting, especially as Winogand single-handedly invented a completely new way of street shooting.

Weegee's world by Miles Barth drags you into the underbelly of 1940's New York. A worthwhile read that also offers insights into street shooting in New York before WW2.

The book Red-color news soldier by Li Zhensheng offers a very personal account of a news photog in China during the Cultural Revolution. Wonderful writing and very interesting photos.

Witness to history - the photographs of Yevgeny Khaldei offers a nice, though IMO too brief, insight into Khaldei's work during WW2 in the Soviet Union. I really wish this book would have been less brief and concise.
Anyone know of a more elaborate book on Soviet photogs and (street/ news) photography before and after the 1950s?

For something different check out a bio about Man Ray.

Anyway, if you immerse yourself in the cultural and artistic movements of the the past 150 years you'll get a very nice overview of the different movements in photography. Especially impressionism, art deco, modernism, cubism, etc have had a deep influence on photography before WW2. After WW2 you'll have to follow the art movements of those times, and also understand the influence of increasing mass culture and mass media on photography (the Vietnam War but also Andy Warhol come to mind).

The history of photography really is the history of contemporary art, politics, and culture.
 
Thanks RML,

I just bought "150 years of photo journalism" in a local bookstore last nite. They sell it at 10 bucks. It's a very nice book. I also heard of Red-color, but we still couldn't find it here in Hong Kong. They told me there's some problems with the local dealers because Phaidon wanna have a authorized distributer.
Man Ray's mongraphs and biography is also very nice. So many different influences of art movements found in his works.

Thanks for your other recommendations. It would help me a lot. Do you know any books or links about more contemporary movements and development, like after Cindy Sherman or sth after the 70s?

Max
 
Has anyone read On Being a Photographer: David Hurn/Magnum in conversation with Bill Jay ? LensWork calls it a "must read" but I noticed they're also the publisher so maybe that should be taken with a grain of salt. Still, sounds interesting ...

Gene
 
Gene said:
Has anyone read On Being a Photographer: David Hurn/Magnum in conversation with Bill Jay ? LensWork calls it a "must read" but I noticed they're also the publisher so maybe that should be taken with a grain of salt. Still, sounds interesting ...

Gene
Click to expand...

Gene

"On Being A Photographer" is a must own and read. It's great. I've purchased and given away many copies. It's one of the three photo books that I consider mandatory. A truly phenomenal book, that can be an epiphany, is "Art & Fear" I can't stress enough how phenomenal this book is! When you read and digest this one, you will find yourself and your photographic path. If you'd like, I'll gladly send you a copy.

Russ
 
Max, I don't know about your place but for me it's ALWAYS cheaper to order a book from Amazon.com, even including shipping. I found Red-color on Amazon.com about 6 months before I saw it here in 1 (one!) bookstore, Amazon's price was 40-50% lower including shipping. Book prices here are out of this world, and prices for foreign books are astronomic.
 
RML, for me here added the shipping charge the price will be even higher. So the amazon discounts make no difference to me. However, I got some friends working in a bookstore. So what I can do is to wait and I can get it at a really low price coz they can help me to get a discount.

By the way, I like Taschen's and Phaidon's books very much. They got plenty of very nice fine art and photography books. Taschen has very bargain price but Phaidon is a bit more pricy. But it worths the money. Really nice printing.

Max
 
Taschen and Phaidon both indeed have nice publications. Bulfinch is another publicing house with very nice books. The books on Kertesz and Brassai I mentioned were published by Bulfinch, and I have several other books published by them.

I have very little knowledge in the art movements after about WW2. This is one area in which I feel some interest growing but I haven't acted upon that feeling yet. Problem is that I have no idea where to start. Warhol would be a nice starting but I care very little for his work. Perhaps I should start with Liechtenstein or Dennis Hopper and see what influenced their arts.
 
Yea, I like Dennis Hopper a lot. His works are nice. And "Easy Rider" is bravo!! A brilliant indepenent effort! Actually I'm also very interested in post-war art-house cinema, especially the new wave in Europe. They have a lot influences on me.
I'm not particularly interested in Warhol's works, though i think he had strongly influenced post-70s art and photography. It's really exciting to discuss these with friends. We always talk about cinematography. Though it's quite different from photography, somehow it teaches me and my friends about perspectives and color. Sth unrelated, Antonioni, Godard, Ingmar Bergman are among my favourite directors.

Max
 
Max, I know sooooooooo little about cinematography I'm almost ashamed to admit it. 🙂 I mostly like kungfu movies, the cheesier the better, and I'm lucky that my wife and little girl also like them. 🙂
I like many movies, both old and new, but I usually have no idea about the directors, script writers, etc. I watch the trailers and decide on that whether I want to see a particular movie or not. Most of the time I can't be bothered; at least 95% of the movies are just a waste of money IMO.

If you ever find yourself in Europe try to visit the Cannes Film Festival (in France) or the Rotterdam Film Festival (in Holland). Cannes is of course thé movie event in Europe; the rich and famous just have to be seen there. Rotterdam (http://www.filmfestivalrotterdam.com/) is much less well known but it offers a much better and more accessible podium for independent, lower budget, avant garde and more such movies. It is during this event I heard about the movie Zatoichi. As soon as it was being shown in my local movie house (really just around the corner) I went to see it. Great movie, with a very unexpected ending. 🙂
 
RML, you must love a lot of Chinese Movies then. Did you watch Kill Bill? There's a lot of Kungfu in the films. I always enjoy Cannes a lot.

Just another nice book to recommend, Taschen's Art of the 20th Century. It basically covers all the western visual art forms found in the 20th century including painting, photography, sculture, media art and installation art.

The painting part's almost taken up half the book. It covers from post-impressionist Van Gogh and Paul Gaugiun to expressionism, art deco, art nouveau, to pop art. And the photography part is also very nice though not very detailed. Early history is of coz included. And it highlights some important photographers from Capa, Doineau, Bresson to more recently Cindy Sherman, Jeff Wall and Nan Goldin. A very nice introduction for the art movement in the 20th century.

Max
 
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