What book do you guys recommend?

MIkhail said:
I know I am in minority on this one, but I would NOT recommend any photography books as collection of photographs (be that AKB or anybody else). I would, however, highly recommend an albums of paintings (Vincent van Gogh, Picasso, Edgar Degas, Andrew Wyeth, Delacroix, El Greco, Edvard Munch, Piet Mondrian... etc. etc.) This way you are actually learning the principles of harmony (basis of any art) from the source, rather than chewing what already was chewed for you.
How many more of Henri Cartier-Bressons does this world need? Wouldn't you rather try to make something of your own than to be copycat with a Leica?
Just my suggestions but it took me years to understand this.
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I'm sure there is a painting forum you can join then.

Also, Larry Fink has some great work as well.
 
The Amateur Photographer's Handbook by Aaron Sussman is one of the better how-to books I've come across. It starts out like most books for beginners but then goes far beyond others I've read with in depth explanations about things like how filters work etc. As it was first published in the 1940s and revised several times over the next few decades it tends to give a lot more "hands on" advice than more modern books, and some of the earlier editions even contain instructions for using things like flash powder.
 
Yep, gonna buy Elliot Erwitt's Snaps this weekend . It's gonna be my very first book related to photography, and I quite like his style. I wanted to buy a Fan Ho one buy it's just a bit too expensive to me
 
This depends partially upon what you want to see.
If you want to study form then photography may not be something to look at, at all. As suggested, paintings, drawings and sculpture can teach a lot about seeing.
I've been a journalist and "street photographer" for almost two decades now and have found that artistic movements in history have informed my eye recently more than the works of prominent photographers.
A good exercise might be to find the artistic movement which tugs at you to look longer and think as if you are the painter, at first just looking to see the art in the world around you; then frame it within a viewfinder of a camera.
The social movements of the late 19th and early 20th centuries have really informed how I see the modern world. That is, the paintings and prints of these movements.
The Meiji period in Japan is fascinating with its rapidly changing art. Immediately following, Japan and the whole world began seeing socialist uprisings.
The non-photographic art is still representative of what was happening in the world at the time and can easily be looked at with an eye to "street photography."
Recently, my personal favorite artistic era is that of the Mexican revolution and following. This is due, in-part, to the extraordinary Mexican Revolution art exhibit at the Philadelphia Museum of Art which recently closed and permanently moved to Mexico City. I also grew up in New Mexico and the greater southwest part of the USA, so the Mexican influence is something that informed my whole young life.
Look at the work of the prominent Mexican muralist and nationalist artists: Orozco, Siquieros, Rivera, Tamayo, Khalo and Leal. These all painted with the social uprisings in mind and it is very apparent in their works. One of my favorite paintings is of Zapatistas by Alfredo Martinez. Many downturned sombreros with several pairs of wary eyes. It is a theme that has been revisited by photographers quite a bit.
Having served in the US Navy as a combat photographer, I used to concentrate on the purely photographic visual documentary but I feel that I have personally grown out of that mode and I'm seeing the world differently, its abstractions inform reality more than I had previously seen. That said, my favorite documentary books are "Minamata" by W. Eugene Smith and "Vietnam Inc." by Philip Jones Griffiths.

Photographic books are good but visual art and seeing the world to photograph it is far more than photography.

Phil Forrest
 
Phil,

I drove up to Philly to see that Mexican show and totally agree with you about how powerful -- and educational -- it was, especially the posters. Wish there had been a more expansive section devoted to the photographers and photographs. How about the 'Stridentists' and 'Stridentism'? That was new to me.
 
Personally I go to shows, and I buy books -- simultaneously.

With the advent of Amazon, sometimes I will order a book while in the show, and because it takes me a few days to get home, the book will be waiting there for me (happened recently at the National Gallery in DC).

Also I get on jags. I now probably own too much Gregory Crewdson, after going to Gagosian a year ago.

I prefer monographs. But more importantly, I live in a city where I can go to many incredible photo shows each month. Usually about a dozen. Shows are more meaningful to me, and you can have coffee with friends, and talk about the work.

Also I take photos of work I enjoy with my iPhone, recent from Wash DC attached (Sharon Core, Still Life, 2009).
 

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Saul said:
Phil,

I drove up to Philly to see that Mexican show and totally agree with you about how powerful -- and educational -- it was, especially the posters. Wish there had been a more expansive section devoted to the photographers and photographs. How about the 'Stridentists' and 'Stridentism'? That was new to me.
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I take the bus to Philly a couple of times a year, incredible museum.

Really cheap hotels always available, and great food in Philly.
 
I mean. should I even buy Elliott Erwitt's Snaps as my first book? Does buying book inspire you more than looking at then online?
 
I wouldn't angst over your first photography book. You will undoubtedly buy more. There's lots of good suggestions in this thread, including MIkhail's. You will find inspiration in lots of artists/photographers' works. Why not look at a few of the suggestions in Google images and Amazon reviews and decide from there.

I think the most benefit would be a book that will give you insight into ways of seeing, and into what makes a good image (whether photograph or art), but that's just my opinion.

My original suggestions were intended to give you the analytical language and the techniques used to analyse photographs, to better understand the medium.
 
jusxusfanatic said:
I mean. should I even buy Elliott Erwitt's Snaps as my first book? Does buying book inspire you more than looking at then online?
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I love looking at my books. I think, much like film vs digital photography, you spend more time really absorbing the images in a book rather than just quickly consuming images you see online.

I buy books because photography exhibitions are always too far away from me.

I forgot to add, some of my favourites that I own are:

Stephen Shore
Jeol Meyerwitz
Elliot Erwitt
Josef Koudelka
Robert Frank
W Eugene Smith
Henri Cartier Bresson
Brassai
Robert Doisneau
Robert Capa
 
You know what, very good suggestion! I really like Serigo's style. But I'm gonna get Snaps first~ Elliott is still better to me tbh :)
 
Go to your local remainder bookshop and buy half a dozen remaindered books for the price of one new one. Let chance guide you: you'll learn far more about what you like, and what you don't, than you will by concentrating on one fashionable or "iconic" photographer.

Cheers,

R.
 
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