How many photographic books do you own?

RalphLambrecht · Feb 16, 2010

I just counted my photographic library and was interested to know how it compared to other photographer's. So, I was wondering, how many books to do own? Not counting brochures or camera instruction manuals, but books about photographic techniques, exposure, darkroom, the Zone System or picture books featuring the work of other photographers.

jeffreyg · Feb 16, 2010

About 250 featuring the works of other photographers. Most are first editions and many are signed. I try to collect a few /year but only ones that I enjoy reading or of works that I appreciate.
Jeff

bobwysiwyg · Feb 16, 2010

Less than 10. Still waiting for their contents to kick-in.

Chan Tran · Feb 16, 2010

Surprisingly not too many, I have about 15 photographic books among the hundreds of books I own.

Robert Hall · Feb 16, 2010

I have been collecting photography books for a very long time. I also inherited a small collection from previous generations of my family of photographers

RalphLambrecht · Feb 16, 2010

Chan Tran said:
Surprisingly not too many, I have about 15 photographic books among the hundreds of books I own.

Chan

15 is <25 but that's OK. Thanks for participating!

Kevin Caulfield · Feb 16, 2010

I'd guess I have fewer than 100, but it could be borderline. I clicked the "<100" option, but if I actually checked them, could find that there are more than 100. How many do you have, Ralph?

RalphLambrecht · Feb 16, 2010

Kevin Caulfield said:
...How many do you have, Ralph?

206 and counting!

Steve Smith · Feb 16, 2010

About thirty. Since photographic magazines stopped being about photography and became more like computer magazines, I have started to spend the money on photographic books from charity shops instead.

Steve.

Mick Fagan · Feb 16, 2010

I thought I had about 25 or so in total, with about 15 serious technical type books in there.

Well I found around 150, something I don't think I'll be advertising to the other significant house member!

That doesn't include 25 years of Darkroom and Creative Technique monthly magazines (stopped that a couple of years ago when they went to mainly electronic photography)

Mick.

RalphLambrecht · Feb 16, 2010

Steve Smith said:
About thirty. Since photographic magazines stopped being about photography and became more like computer magazines, I have started to spend the money on photographic books from charity shops instead.

Steve.

Very good point!!!

Joachim_I · Feb 16, 2010

From memory close to 100 I think. First bought a lot of technical guides which collect dust now, meanwhile prefer to buy books of photographers. Have Max Pam and Robert Frank on my wish list. I am often annoyed that picture books become out-of-print rather early.

Drifter · Feb 16, 2010

Was surprised to to count 62 (I thought I had much less). Roughly half on photographers and the other half technical books - some of which are close to 80 years old!

André E.C. · Feb 16, 2010

83 books, from technical to specific photographer monographs or portfolios.
I´m also running out of space for more.

MattKing · Feb 16, 2010

RalphLambrecht said:
206 and counting!

Did you count your own?

A quick review indicates 28, but that includes a couple of duplicate Darkroom Dataguides.

There may very well be a few more, in slightly less accessible locations.

Matt

Mike1234 · Feb 16, 2010

I don't know. Quite a few, I think, but they've all been stored away in boxes since I got married in 1985. Making a long story short here...

removed account4 · Feb 16, 2010

when i lived near a "seconds / used " bookstore it was easier for me to afford ...
the collected works of nadar and atget are my favorites

David Brown · Feb 16, 2010

I had never counted and I'm shocked. I stopped counting at 100, but it's less than 250.

2F/2F · Feb 16, 2010

I voted <25, though I did not actually count.

Do you want to know which ones, or just numbers?

Ektagraphic · Feb 16, 2010

Not enough I guess....I want to get some more on Darkroom work.

grahamp · Feb 17, 2010

212 as a fast count of what is actually on the shelf. I can't remember what is by the bed at the moment That does not include Lenswork, Zoom, Creative Camera, and other periodicals with a heavy photographic content. I added five books this month, come to think about it.

Less than 1 in 10 are technical books.

Ian Grant · Feb 17, 2010

At a rough estimate at least 400, four bookshelves of art photography, three bookshelves and some large boxes of technical books.

Amongst those are multiple editions if The (Ilford) Manual of Photography, dating back to 1890, and many copies of the British Journal Photographic Almanac (and later BJP Anual) going back over a Century.

Many of the books come from second-hand shops, particularly from visits to Hay-On-Wye (UK) which is a book buyers Mecca, and being copied in other countries

Ian

RalphLambrecht · Feb 17, 2010

2F/2F said:
I voted <25, though I did not actually count.

Do you want to know which ones, or just numbers?

For now, only numbers. The poll software is not very flexible. I thought the ratio of technical/art would also be interesting.

benjiboy · Feb 17, 2010

More than 300, my wife and I love books, our house is full of them.

Rombo · Feb 17, 2010

I have less than 100, but I am waiting to get the second edition book Way Beyond Monochrome....

How many photographic books do you own?