How many photographic books do you own?
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I marked 50, I'm confident that it's at least that many. A drop in the bucket compared to the Science Fiction collection.
One of the things on my to do list is actually catalog them to allow me to lend them out to others in a photo group I semi regularly attend. No firm count, but I said <100. There is about 6-8 feet of shelf space all considered.
I hit a used book sale every year that my local symphony does and buy up as many interesting photo books as I can; most are $1 -$2 range found that way. Many are lightly grazed then given away to inspire others. The ones in my book count estimate arer the semi 'keepers'. Most are technical; I am now starting to gather more image oriented books.
I hit a used book sale every year that my local symphony does and buy up as many interesting photo books as I can; most are $1 -$2 range found that way. Many are lightly grazed then given away to inspire others. The ones in my book count estimate arer the semi 'keepers'. Most are technical; I am now starting to gather more image oriented books.
More than 150 but probably not to 250. Of course, that does include every issue of LensWork. So many of the books of art photographs were purchased many years ago when books were relatively inexpensive. I have tried to sell them on ebay, but these older books do not hold their value. So, I guess I will hang on to them and enjoy the photographs.
About 100. About half are technical. Some of the technical ones sort of overlap or repeat each other. That's because I tend to find those at garage sales and as you guys call them boot sales, and although I have purchased a fair share including WBM at retailers, I can't seem to pass up any photo book offered for $1 or so. Books by and about photographers are usually purchased with more premeditation. My number doesn't include periodicals like Lenswork, B+W, etc. There are at least another hundred there, but I don't consider them books per se.
I said 100 on the poll but I just remembered a whole shelf that probably has another 100. I have slowed down my purchase quite a bit due to lack of space. I also have a few that I would like to get rid of: what was I thinking when I bought some of them?
I say about 28 or so.
Jeff
Jeff
About 150 with about 20 of those technical, another 100 books related to art in general that I probably would never have purchased without my interest in photography and various back issues of Lens Work, View Camera, Camera and Darkroom, B&W, Silvershot etc.
TheFlyingCamera
Membership Council
More than 100, probably less than 250. I'll have to do an inventory. It's hard to keep track when it's part of a 1700+ volume library that grows on the order of 40+ books a year. When I move house, my movers will love me and my wallet will hate me. I can't even fit all my books in one room anymore, and my shelves are so full, I've resorted to laying books horizontally on top of the regular stacks.
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Interesting survey. Like several others, I knew my own collection was fairly small, maybe 30 books, or so. Until I started counting, whereupon the number went a bit over 100.
Mine are about half technical. I love looking at picture books, but hold back for lack of a place to put them.
Mine are about half technical. I love looking at picture books, but hold back for lack of a place to put them.
I had not counted mine either. I was surprised to find nearly 50! Pretty impressive considering I've only been into this for a little over a year.
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removed-user-1
I have 58 on the nearest bookshelf, including Beaumont Newhall's "Latent Image" which is probably my favorite. There are many more in storage, including old issues of now-defunct photo magazines like Camera & Darkroom and Camera 35 (but I didn't count those).
Wow, you guys are amazing! I would never have thought anyone could possibly have more than 250 and here we have people with in excess of 400! Un-frickin-believable! 
Less than 10 is my sad count, sorry folks... I tend to use APUG when I have questions rather than go to books for some reason...
Less than 10 is my sad count, sorry folks... I tend to use APUG when I have questions rather than go to books for some reason...
I just counted mine I have 324, it might seem like a lot but I've been into photography for more than fifty years, and I have bought more in recent years because I stopped buying photo magazines because they were full of digital articles I have no interest in, anyway I don't fully understand film photography yet.
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OP
OP
Wow, you guys are amazing! I would never have thought anyone could possibly have more than 250 and here we have people with in excess of 400! Un-frickin-believable!
Less than 10 is my sad count, sorry folks... I tend to use APUG when I have questions rather than go to books for some reason...
Oh, oh... I need to consider that!
Sometimes we need to refer to books to answer the questions on APUG 
I realised I under estimated in my previous post, seeing how little space 50+ photography books is taking up here in Turkey and remembering just what I have stored in the UK, and the space they used to take up.
When I add up all the Technical books, Exhibition Catalogues, Monographs, books on Critical Theory, etc and over 40 years of collection it's quite possible I have over 600 books.
Now I need to seriously think about cataloguing them, and then when we eventually move to new house building a library to house them.
Ian
I realised I under estimated in my previous post, seeing how little space 50+ photography books is taking up here in Turkey and remembering just what I have stored in the UK, and the space they used to take up.
When I add up all the Technical books, Exhibition Catalogues, Monographs, books on Critical Theory, etc and over 40 years of collection it's quite possible I have over 600 books.
Now I need to seriously think about cataloguing them, and then when we eventually move to new house building a library to house them.
Ian
About 200. Yeesh. Mostly monographs, books on photo history, vernacular photography, and some on technique.
Well I would of said a few counted them and I have 52 I didn't know I had that much but all but 3 are about photographers or there works
Paul
but all but 3 are about photographers or there worksPaul
When you have questions on APUG Chris the reason you're fellow members can answer them is because we have a lot of books, and we've read them .Wow, you guys are amazing! I would never have thought anyone could possibly have more than 250 and here we have people with in excess of 400! Un-frickin-believable!
Less than 10 is my sad count, sorry folks... I tend to use APUG when I have questions rather than go to books for some reason...
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jovo
Membership Council
If I don't count the scores of LensWork, View Camera magazines, and other periodicals, I think I have about 150ish actual books. Most are monographs, some are technical, and a few are assemblages of photographers with similar subject matter. Then, because my wife is an artist, there are the ones she's collected that are shelved in the studio along with legions of art books. Between the recorded music we have, and the visual stimulation, we're ready for a looooong time in the bomb shelter.
OK.
Here is my breakdown:
- Eight monographic picture books (Lee Friedlander, Ernst Haas, Garry Winogrand, Robert Frank, Clifford Coffin, Jim Jocoy, Ansel Adams x2)
- One collection (journalism pictures)
- Four biographies/autobiographies (Ansel Adams, Robert Frank, David Kennerly, Robert Capa)
- Eleven technical (including "Weegee's Creative Camera", two copies of "Mamiya Professional Systems Handbook" by Robb Smith, and a 1961 Photo Lab Index)
- Five textbooks (including two copies of "Photography" by Upton and Upton)
- Two business/legal books
- Two essay collections
- A nice magazine here and there
- A few equipment catalogs (Sinar-Bron, Mamiya, etc.)
So, it is actually 33, plus the magazines and catalogs, which is more than I entered for the poll (<25).
Of all these books, twelve have been assigned for classes: The five that I called "textbooks", and seven others that were not designed specifically to be textbooks, but were used as such by my instructors (including the Christopher James alt. processes book and the Ansel Adams "Camera/Negative/Print" trilogy). Most of my photography or art instructors did not assign a textbook for their classes.
Here is my breakdown:
- Eight monographic picture books (Lee Friedlander, Ernst Haas, Garry Winogrand, Robert Frank, Clifford Coffin, Jim Jocoy, Ansel Adams x2)
- One collection (journalism pictures)
- Four biographies/autobiographies (Ansel Adams, Robert Frank, David Kennerly, Robert Capa)
- Eleven technical (including "Weegee's Creative Camera", two copies of "Mamiya Professional Systems Handbook" by Robb Smith, and a 1961 Photo Lab Index)
- Five textbooks (including two copies of "Photography" by Upton and Upton)
- Two business/legal books
- Two essay collections
- A nice magazine here and there
- A few equipment catalogs (Sinar-Bron, Mamiya, etc.)
So, it is actually 33, plus the magazines and catalogs, which is more than I entered for the poll (<25).
Of all these books, twelve have been assigned for classes: The five that I called "textbooks", and seven others that were not designed specifically to be textbooks, but were used as such by my instructors (including the Christopher James alt. processes book and the Ansel Adams "Camera/Negative/Print" trilogy). Most of my photography or art instructors did not assign a textbook for their classes.
I wish there was a direct correlation between number of photographic books and quality of my work; but I fear it may be an inverse relationship. I quit counting after 300.
OP
OP
Seems the mean is around 100 books per member so far.
I did a quick physical count yesterday of the ones close at hand and got to 130, so I need to modify my poll answer. 
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