Photography book prices rising beyond the grasp of real enthusiasts.

[removed account4]

cropdusterman

do you have 2nds/returns bookstores near you ?
i have gotten fantastic books for bargain basement prices
at these sorts of bookstores ... stuff like the complete works of NADAR for like 10$
or the book of the national portrait gallery in london for about the same price
these are LARGE hardcover books with dust jackets that normally would cost upwards of 100$...

 

[Sirius Glass]

Take a look at:

https://www.abebooks.com/
http://www.camerabooks.com/
http://www.pacificrimcamera.com/
https://www.songofsnow.com/​

 

[avb]

I go to thrift shops for some of my used photo books. Most used book stores know how much the books are worth!
I got William Klein's Rome (1st edition) for $2 last week at Goodwill!
And eBay is ok too - I got Avedon's In the American West for cheap because to was a library copy with all the marks on it - it actually has a big red stamp: "DISCARD" (!).

 

[Moopheus]

This isn't anything to do with "photo books", it could be a moan about anything someone wants costing more than they are willing to pay..

Yes, some people seem to be under the impression that 'the market' will function to provide them what they want at a price they consider reasonable. But in fact, the market makes no such promise. The market for out-of-print and first-edition books can indeed be highly variable and subject to seemingly random fluctuations. Of course, you are free to make offers on items if you think they dealer might be amenable.

 

[Richard Man]

The most ridiculous price for a book I've seen to date is "The Decisive Moment" by HCB. I paid $85 for a new copy but I've seen them on eBay from $200 to $2500 if they were a first edition, signed copy. NO book is worth that. Some 1st Edition copies are even way more.

If you see a signed first edition for less than $2500, buy it You will make it back easily.

 

[Peter Schrager]

i joined "paperback bookswap" a number of years ago... you post your books online, when someone wants it, you post it to them - it costs you $3-4 postage, US. you get a "credit"
Love this...
you then use that credit to request a book, and that person sends it - no cost to you. I've collected probably 50 or more photos essay/monographs, for a mere pittance. yes they are used, but i have yet to get a significantly damaged book and most are in great shape... lotsa great photo's to mull over!

'bout time for me to pare down tho'.

jvo

 

[Richard Man]

There are books that I really want and only available in the secondary market. Then when I finally gritted my teeth and paid, they FINALLY come out with a new printing :-/

The reverse is that a new book come out, and I really want it, but can't afford it at that time. By the time I can afford it, it's sold out and I have to buy it for more $$ :-/

 

[Patrick Robert James]

I have found a few books at Library sales, or Goodwill. Sometimes you can find a remainder on the web. I picked up a Lillian Bassman book recently that was a remainder on Amazon for only $12ish. Arrived still wrapped in cellophane. Used books through Abe or Amazon are an option sometimes, though they can also be pricey depending on demand. It is fun to find a gem every now and then for cheap.

 

[sionnac]

I bought a lovely Sudek monograph in Czech for $25 today at the PHSNE Photographica show. Get to know some dealers, let them know what you are looking for. I use bookfinder.com or vialibri to search across sites, and usually have good luck by only buying very good or better quality used copies.

 

[silveror0]

I still have a full set of "Encyclopedia of Photography" filling one whole shelf of my enclosed bookcase, purchased in 1957 when was a gullible kid suckered in by a door-to-door saleman. Don't recall ever opening one of those volumes - still pristine condition with no dust, but I haven't even opened one to see if the innards are yellowed with age. Market value? hahahaha.

 

[Sirius Glass]

My girlfriend tells me that those books are good for pressing flowers that your date gave you at a prom.

 

[Richard Man]

I am wet-mounting Kozo rice paper prints onto acrylic / acetate sheets, and those heavy photo books come in handy ~_o

 

[silveror0]

My first dance as a very young lad was a Sadie Hawkins dance (a girl-ask-boy dance for those who don't know); it was country-style attire, so I put on my blue jeans with a BIG turned-up cuff with plaid flannel shirt and my uncle's WWII paratrooper boots and gave her a corsage of carrots complete with foliage tops. I really doubt she pressed the corsage.

 

[ozphoto]

Postage for books here in AUS is ridiculous - both domestically and internationally!!

I ordered a couple of used textbooks through www.abebook.com and the seller inadvertently sent me an incorrect order. I was asked to return the book for a full refund. I was happy to do so, however, the cost to ship back to the USA would have cost them $AUD85.00!! (The book was originally purchased for $USD10 plus $USD10.00 shipping.)

Naturally, they declined it being returned (they refunded in full) and I donated it to the local Red Cross store, for a primary school student to get some use out of.

I've got a number of books here, but the cost to ship is so prohibitive, that I doubt they'd sell even I sold them for $AUD5.00 each. Shall see what transpires - maybe I'll just donate them to one of my local charity shops and someone will get lucky!

 

[Two23]

I have slowly put together a nice collection of photo books. Fortunately my tastes seem to be of the older, mostly 19th century photographers. Few people seem to know who these folks are. I have several books of Frank J. Haynes' photos--the master photographer from Fargo ND 1876-1905. Also have a nice collection of his Dakota stereoviews (prices on those are much higher than the books.) After years of watching I finally snagged a good copy of E.O. Hoppe's "Deutsche Arbeit," a true masterpiece few seem to know about. Also have a set of the German photography journal "Das Deutsche Lichtbild" from the 1930s. (DOES ANYONE know much about these, and the fate of it's editor BRUNO SCHULTZ?) Patient searching has brought me nice copies at reasonable prices. Also collect photo books from regional photographers. The prices on these are much more reasonable and I can generally get them signed. So far the one book I want that has escaped me is James Nachtwey's "Inferno," but I did get a nice copy of Don McCullin's "Hearts of Darkness" for about $12 a few years ago. Amazing how cheap the books from master photographers who have drifted from the public's attention over time can be.


Kent in SD

 

[Vaughn]

I checked Amazon on the price of a out-of-print book. There was one copy for $143 or something like that. I emailed the author and he said he had a bunch of them still in his basement and sold me a signed copy for the normal price of $16.

 

[Skiver101]

I used to love the smell of a new book when I was young.
The smell of hot plastic and silicon just doesn't come near it.

 

[CMoore]

Some of them certainly are, but i have gotten Lots Of Good Prices on Photo/Picture books.
I have several that deal with Hollywood and Movie Stars that were very affordable.
I got two books about New York City.....one from The 1930's and one from The 1940's. Great books and not a lot of money.
Got a Charles Sheeler book. Has his Ford Motors pics and many others. A pretty big book. I think it was 25 bux plus shipping.
I bought the Time/Life Collection about Photography. I THINK it was 24 books plus a couple of index and a miscellaneous or two. It was about 25 dollars plus 35 for shipping. The books were in Very Good condition and provide Many Hours of repeated use.
Life goes to war...a great WWII book was affordable.
I imagine there will be some, especially those of just One Photographer, that get costly.
I imagine Robert Franks and Any Warhol still command some good money. I suppose Ansel Adams book of prints would be expensive.
It just depends what you are after.
For my tastes, there are Hundreds of books that i can by and enjoy, based just on the low price.
Trains
Industrial
Art Deco
good luck

 

[Patrick Robert James]

By the way, some of you probably have some of my old treasured photo books since the Post Office lost a shipment of them during a move of mine and were nonplussed at trying to find them. Primo stuff too (all my favs), 55lbs worth! You are welcome if you were one of the lucky b@stards that benefitted from my misfortune.... I don't really miss them anymore, but it still makes me feel a little ill when I think about it.

 

[Alan Johnson]

I checked a couple of technical books:
Photographic Processing Chemistry by LFA Mason - $183.
The Theory of the Photographic Process by Mees and James 3rd ed - $34
It seems a new enthusiast might no be too keen to pay $183 for the best book on the alchemy of negative processing - not a good situation.

 

[Michael Guzzi]

Sometimes, but not always, you can find a better priced option if you look real close. I found the Mason book for about 35 bucks, ex-library, but that's usually not a problem. Got The Camera, The Negative and The Print for about 50, with shipping to Brazil.

Places I look most often for old and out-of-print books are:

https://www.abebooks.com; and

https://www.betterworldbooks.com/ (great for me as there is free shipping on most items, even to Brazil, and NO import duties!)

 

[lantau]

As for text books, they are printed in very limited numbers compared to mass market books, and they spoil easily, in that they may become outdated quickly. Hence, they aren't cheap. The captive market plays some roll too, but not as much as people like to imagine.

Not some roll, it is *the* roll.

I've been to universities in three countries including a US university. Those prices are not justified in any way. They are not really printed in such limited numbers. And if they are it is artificially so by having a 'new edition' every year or two. The major change is in the the page numbers. That way they prevent the used book market from disrupting their business model.

US universities teach undergrad courses (and many grad courses) like a school class, requiring every student to have exactly the same book. That is the enabler of this scandal. And publishers lobby professors to use their books with various enticements. Same corruption as in politics. There simply is no market, only oligopolies. Text books in other countries, including the UK, are much cheaper. And arguably better, the US editions are often like child books.

The profits posted by those publishers in such a small 'market' speak the truth.

 

[Carriage]

For those Australians that aren't aware, check out booko.com.au It searches most major online shops and orders by price including post. Sometimes it's easier to find the book on say amazon to get the ISBN and then search booko using the ISBN. It also looks at used copies.

 

[Mainecoonmaniac]

It's happening in the world of wine too. BTW, I'm not a wine snob nor connoisseu.

http://fortune.com/2011/12/09/how-wine-prices-have-changed-over-25-years/

 

[Lachlan Young]

I've been to universities in three countries including a US university. Those prices are not justified in any way. They are not really printed in such limited numbers. And if they are it is artificially so by having a 'new edition' every year or two. The major change is in the the page numbers. That way they prevent the used book market from disrupting their business model.

Unlike most photobooks, the (often multiple) authors of such textbooks expect to get paid fairly for their work. Many times the new editions are caused by changes in laws/ regulations/ new science etc, etc. You would not want a medical or legal textbook (for example) to not be up to the minute & properly peer reviewed. Journal articles & academic monographs are much more like photobooks in terms of the (minimal) financial recompense to their authors - but they are of potentially very significant value to their careers.

And producing those textbooks also makes it possible for the publishers to also print books whose global audience is perhaps 100 & where the costs of production, peer review etc etc will not be absorbed by potential sales.

Everyone would also do well to understand that perhaps only 1/3 or less of the cover price of a book is what the publisher receives - & a lot of that might be spent on producing the book in the first place. Good offset printing is not cheap. Good design & colour correction/ duotone separations are not cheap. Try making a top quality offset-printed book & then say it's 'easy' or 'cheap'.