Your most important photography book

[ChrisN]

We all have books that are an important part of our hobby, to teach us and inspire us. But there's one book that every traditional photographer must have. For me it's The New History of Photography by Michel Frizot. It has lots of photos, and interesting text.

But the most important thing is that it is large, and heavy, and perfect for flattening negatives!

So - what's your most important book?

 

[feenej]

I could not get my prints right until I read our own Mr. Hicks' book.

 

[gns]

Way too hard to select just one, but just to play the game, I will say that Winogrand's "The Animals" really opened my eyes to what (or what else) photography could be when I was just getting interested.

Cheers,
Gary

 

[Todd.Hanz]

Avedons "In the American West" (or whatever the title is)

 

[petronius]

Ernst Haas: "The Creation"

 

[Avotius]

Easy one for me, Michael Yama****a's "Zheng He". He even wrote me a kind message in mine and signed it for me. Great book too, just right up my alley as its the type of photos I like to take.

 

[back alley]

edward weston's dayboks.

 

[usagisakana]

So far mine have been (couldn't pick out of the two) Satellites by Jonas Bendiksen, and The Americans by Robert Frank. I keep going back to both of them time and time again.

 

[wintoid]

The Family Of Children

 

[pfoto]

Exiles. Josef Koudelka.

 

[Roger Hicks]

I could not get my prints right until I read our own Mr. Hicks' book.

You are very kind; thank you.

The book I've learned most from, and to which I turn most often, is probably the Focal Encyclopaedia, Fully Revised Edition, 1965 -- NOT the later or RIT version.

After all, the rest is just taking pictures, and practising. Understanding the theory and history behind it needs something like the Focal Encyclopaedia. Or Leclerc. Or Gladfkides. Or Haist.

My wife Frances, a far better printer than I, backs Tim Rudman, or William Mortensen.

Cheers,

R.

 

[cweg]

Andreas Feiniger "Die hohe Schule der Fotografie"

 

[le vrai rdu]

book about trawlers and fishermen

 

[Harry S.]

Enrique Metinides;
Daido Moriyama;
And I like the small paperback "photofile" books, my favourites being those of Sebastiao Salgado and Josef Koudelka. Small, Cheap and with no text, but they are perfect to flick though for inspiration.

I like the work by the greats (HCB, Winogrand, etc) but I am always underwhelmed by their books.

 

[MikeL]

If we could go plural, every so often I like to look through the Time-Life series from the 70s. I like the variety of images in them. Every time I go back through one I notice something different.

 

[Andrew Sowerby]

So far mine have been (couldn't pick out of the two) Satellites by Jonas Bendiksen, and The Americans by Robert Frank. I keep going back to both of them time and time again.

Satellites is fantastic. Have you seen his new book The Places We Live? It's really good as well. The format is unusual, but I like it. I like that his books are small. Easier to look at while lying on the couch.

Most important? I'm not sure. My father introduced me to The Pentax Way when I was 15. It taught me the basics of photography, which is pretty important. As for stuff that inspires me, I return to Martin Parr and Stephen Shore a lot. They're very, very different, but both so interesting.

 

[rogue_designer]

Irving Penn's "Passage"

I find it perpetually inspiring.

(it also - is good for flattening negs )

 

[pesphoto]

SUDEK Poet of Prague
Andre Kertesz- His Life and His Work

 

[FallisPhoto]

Green Eggs and Ham, by Dr. Seuss.

 

[Trius]

I don't recall the title, but it was a book of (or contained) photos by Ralph Eugene Meatyard. After that, whatever book had photos of Minimata by Smith, after that, Minor White/Equivalents.