Suggestions for library expansion

OurManInTangier

OurManInTangier

An Undesirable
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Can anyone suggest some good photo books for me please?

I tend to photograph people and places in a 'street' ish manner and most of my books are Tony Ray-Jones, Erwitt, Bresson and the like. I have no books by newer photographers and nothing thats really outside of the aforementioned style. I love Gregory Crewdson's work and would like to have my eyes opened to more interesting and different work. If you can recommend something I can research it further and spend some of my Christmas book vouchers - my default request when it comes to presents :)

Anything goes so don't hold back - I really need to absorb some new views of the world.

Many thanks
 
Diane Arbus, Garry Winogrand, Robert Frank, Bruce Guilden, Jeff Mermelstein, Helen Levitt, Larry Fink, William Klein, Thomas Roma, Koudelka, Antonin Kratochvil, Anders Petersen, Klavdij Sluban, Daido Moriyama ...
 
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Salgado's AFRICA is a masterpiece in B&W photography.

Kenro Izu's Sacred Places for ultra large format Pt/pl prints - out of print but available use through abebooks.com
 
I like Salgado's Workers, I think everyone should have a copy of Don McCullen's Hearts of Darkness, it's cheap too.
 
Stephan Shore; American Surfaces or Uncommon Places
William Eggleston; A Guide
Elliot Erwit; Dogs
Alec Soth; Sleeping by the Mississippi or Niagara
David Campany; Art & Photography
Then others to look at, Pail Strand, Alfred Stieglitz, Richard Avedon (In The American West), Cindy Sherman, Nan Goldin, Joel Meyerowitz, The Bechers, Taryn Simon, Edward Stiechen, Sally Mann.
Ok that's what I can think of off the top of my head, there are many more that I find exciting and stimulating. Part of my degree involved art history and photographic art history. You can always look through the great artists well known and not so well known to find inspiration. Personally I find Monet, Rembrandt, Heartfield and Duchamp quite invigorating.
 
Thanks for the suggestions so far. Ideally I'd like to get away from the more street based styles and find something thats utterly new to me...I realise that makes it hard to offer suggestions as I'm offering no great insight into what may interest me but thats on purpose as I'd like to research your suggestions and hopefully find something new, exciting and invigorating to me.

I'll get on with checking out the suggestions so far but please feel free to offer up pretty much anything that comes to mind.

Thank you all so much
 
I always recommend Pam Spaulding's "An American Family... Three Decades with the McGarveys", and I'll not change now. :)
Very wonderful on so many levels; From the perseverance of both the photographer, Pam Spaulding, and her subjects. To the capturing of so many delightful family moments.

--michael
 
OurManInTangier said:
Thanks for the suggestions so far. Ideally I'd like to get away from the more street based styles and find something thats utterly new to me...I realise that makes it hard to offer suggestions as I'm offering no great insight into what may interest me but thats on purpose as I'd like to research your suggestions and hopefully find something new, exciting and invigorating to me.

I'll get on with checking out the suggestions so far but please feel free to offer up pretty much anything that comes to mind.

Thank you all so much
Click to expand...

Okay, here's something a bit different:

Train Your Gaze by Roswell Angier

John
 
Simon,
I setup a bookstore on my website exactly for this purpose.
As I find new books that I am interested or have bought, I add it, so it becomes a running library, only tailored to my taste.

If you have time, swing by and have a look, I am not a completely street-photography guy myself, so chances are you'll find something new.
 
I enjoyed Street photography now.
Modern stuff and not all to taste but an excellent book with short pithy essays devoid of any pretence.
 
Jeff Wall has a new, big, one out. About as far away from "miniaturist reportage" as you can get.:) Aside from the odd street photo. He also writes better than anyone about how photography and contemporary art/art history mish-mash together. Mine is on its way.

I should add his writing is academic and pretentious- he takes art very seriously! Pretty enjoyable, really.
 
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Non-street stuff? Hmmmm


Large format colour:

Stephen Shore Uncommon Places

Joel Sternfeld American Prospects

Simon Roberts We English


Photojournalism-type stuff:

Robert Hornstra 101 Billionaires

Jonas Bendiksen Satellites
 
I like art books as keepsakes. They're often beautiful, but I find them more sentimental than inspirational. More static than kinetic. For me, going to a gallery or museum is more thought-provoking. Walking around an unfamiliar environment, discovering artists you hadn't known and the meditative pace add up to a brain-jostling stimulation I've never received from a photography book. Granted, if you don't have access to a large metropolitan area, books might have to do!
 
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