Vivian Maier Street Photographer Book

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...dark times is when thousands of negatives end up in a storage facility because no one cares and then they get auctioned off for peanuts and then they make thousands for someone who lucked onto them...

Can you elaborate?
 
I have posted a PS to my original post.

The book has a retail price of $46.

At that price, almost evrything on the shelves at your local Barnes&Nobles is less expensive.

This isn't a very good argument.

Just off the top of my head--for better production and lower prices:

* Any and all National Geographic books
* Ansel Adams --coffee table sized <$40
* Annie Liebovitz- coffee table sized books
*Galen Rowell-coffee table sized books

Other types of photo books:

*Dorthea Lange's "Daring To Look"
* Sophie Howard & Stephen McCohen "Street Photography Now"

All of the above are better produced and cost less.

Texsport




Texsport
 
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Could it be that you have a bad copy? A bad batch printed too dark happens more often than people might imagine.
 
Korean War? Civil Rights? Hiding under a desk? 52,000 dead in Vietnam? Murdered: Kennedy, King, Kennedy? Riots in almost every major city in America? Watt, Chicago, Detroit, NYC? Mafia, Hells Angels, KKK, Church bombing.? Etc., ect. Not dark? Maybe, it all depends where you were in the 1950s and 1960s. I could go on with polio, cataracks, and other diseases that today are curable but if the 1950's and 1960s were good times compared today...

Most of what you are describing above was mid to late 60's. The 1950s were not dark at all. They were almost innocent only to be replaced by the Vietnam War in the 60's. Every year, every decade has a lot of bad things. People are bad, face it. But, when I look at what preceded the 1950s, I can no way state that the 1950s were dark as those returning from war had started families, buying homes and working at regular jobs. Times were pretty good IMO.:angel:

So, back to the OP...what about the book is "dark"?
 
How many people in this post actually have the book? I am just curious.
I am simply expressing the disappointment because I had very high expectation for this book and pre-ordered it when it was first announced.
Her work is very inspiring but I can't see that from the book. I tell myself that I am paying $30 just to support the online site.
 
I have the VM book. I paid more for it than I did for my copy of the Steidl "The Americans". The latter book, as an example, is vastly better printed, constructed and presented. I really like VM's photos, but somehow think that Maloof doesn't have her best work (at least from what I've seen) and the quality of the book was a letdown.

Marty
 
How many people in this post actually have the book? I am just curious.
I have the book and reviewed it in the " latest additions to your library" thread a week ago. My copy of this book is excellent from an image quality, printing and binding perspective. I'm a frequent contributor to the "additions" thread and I have a lot of photo books for comparison; this book stands with the best of them.
 
"The 1950s were not dark at all." Correct me if I am wrong but the 1950's
Korean War 50000 dead/missing
Brown v. Board of Education 1954 Segregation and Civil Righst Marches in the South
Miscegnation was a crime punishable by imprisonment
McCarthy Hearings and Blacklisting
1956 Hungarian Uprsing
1960 Cuban Revolution1963 Cuban Missile Crisis
Wars in Africa, South America
First Arab Israel War 1950
Yes, I, too, look fondly back on those innocent days.
That doesn't include all the diseases that have since been cured
 
I am having a nice time looking at the book, but it isn't like it's the second coming of Christ or anything. I really like seeing people's reactions to her presence in the photographs (those that were not "posed" so to speak.) To me those are the most fascinating photographs in the book.

I'd really like to see more of her photographs. Seeing as she took so many of them and they are now being selected by third parties for printing I don't think it's an easy task to really grasp her vision without seeing more than a single book. In some ways the book feels like a "Greatest Hits" album. I feel like a lot of the photographs that I don't really care about might have more meaning/be more interesting to me with more context.

Interesting to me that the sociopolitical environment of the era is not relevant to some people when viewing something that is in large part a social document composed of and created by people in said environment. Ditto the personal life of the photographer.
 
I have the book and reviewed it in the " latest additions to your library" thread a week ago. My copy of this book is excellent from an image quality, printing and binding perspective. I'm a frequent contributor to the "additions" thread and I have a lot of photo books for comparison; this book stands with the best of them.

+1
and ten words to make the RFF quota minimum
 
I have posted a PS to my original post.

The book has a retail price of $46.

At that price, almost evrything on the shelves at your local Barnes&Nobles is less expensive.

This isn't a very good argument.

Just off the top of my head--for better production and lower prices:

* Any and all National Geographic books
* Ansel Adams --coffee table sized <$40
* Annie Liebovitz- coffee table sized books
*Galen Rowell-coffee table sized books

Other types of photo books:

*Dorthea Lange's "Daring To Look"
* Sophie Howard & Stephen McCohen "Street Photography Now"

All of the above are better produced and cost less.

Texsport




Texsport

I suppose everyone's entitled to criticize a book but this is the most curious criticism of a book I've ever heard. Basically it's "the book's not good because other books are printed in a way you like and this isn't; additionally other books cost less so this book isn't as good... "

How do you order coffee in a restaurant? Is it a bad coffee if it's expensive and good if it's less expensive? This is definitely a different way to look at books.

Anyway I got your message in the OP and I'm genuinely sorry the book disappointed you, I found it to be a "two thumbs up"
 
I suppose everyone's entitled to criticize a book but this is the most curious criticism of a book I've ever heard. Basically it's "the book's not good because other books are printed in a way you like and this isn't; additionally other books cost less so this book isn't as good... "

How do you order coffee in a restaurant? Is it a bad coffee if it's expensive and good if it's less expensive? This is definitely a different way to look at books.

Anyway I got your message in the OP and I'm genuinely sorry the book disappointed you, I found it to be a "two thumbs up"



Your posts are bordering on comedy. Please recall that it was your erroneous argument that the book cost $30 and was therefore an excellent bargain.:)

I don't look for book bargains, rather choosing volumes of quality.

We agree to disagree on the Maier book.:angel:

Texsport
 
I don't think I understand an argument based on MSRP rather than what you can actually procure it for. I'd hate to rely on B&N for my art book needs, their selection is fairly limited. Unless you're looking for one of the four million Ansel Adams books to give your dad so he can stick it on his coffee table or in his waiting room, etc..

In any case, my copy is excellent. The images are quite warm, but they're rich - in detail and in content.
 
We agree to disagree on the Maier book.:angel:

Texsport

Yeah we disagree, I'm not concerned it's only a book. You've got a lot of nice hardware listed beneath your signature. I'm always interested in photography. I'd like to see your work. Do you have a link?
 
Received the book today. Printing is fine: I have seen better and much worse. Internet price of 26USD is absolutely fair. She had an amazing eye and curage and I am so happy her photographs were saved.
 
Some good reproductions there, thanks for the link. Amazing that a rubbish "newspaper" like the Daily Mail picked up on her. They probably read about her in the Guardian or the Telegraph, there's been a fair amount of publicity in the UK and the rest of Europe about her.
 
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