The Photobook Thread

[logan2z]

I don't understand these shifting deadlines from Steidl. Why post/share them at all? They keep being pushed and pushed and sometimes it all vanishes into thin air anyway (e.g. Barney Kessel's promised reissues).

It is frustrating. There are announced titles I've been waiting on for 3+ years.

 

[Patrick Robert James]

Been away from this thread for a while. Ended up getting Moriyama's Quartet and Todd Hido's Intimate Distance.

I'm kind of meh on the Moriyama book. Good to see the images from his early work that made him famous but I don't think the printing is very good. I have a small Phaidon Moriyama book from years ago. Some images look better in it. Some look worse though so... I kind of just want one Moriyama book with all his best images in it. Hopefully someone will make one. Maybe MoMA or another museum. There have been so many though who knows. Maybe someone already has. Can't keep track. Still though these four sets of images were the ones that made him famous so it is a good book to have.

The Hido book is an excellent one if you are interested in Hido. For the price, if you don't already have Hido books, it is perfect. It seems like a good overview. I was never much of a fan of Hido but I think I am coming around; at least for this work. His newer work is digital now and they look odd.

I also recently picked up another (I have like 9 already) Ralph Gibson book, Overtones, that I stumbled over on fleabay still in it's shrink wrap for six measly dollars. Thirty-ish year old book still in shrink wrap... After going through it a few times I think it is one of his best. The images are presented side by side and it really works. After returning the latest Taschen book on him this one was a nice surprise. I kind of want Taschen to release a Deus Ex Machina part Deux. Continue with his work where the first one left off in the same format. Deus is probably my favorite photo book.

Another one I snagged is MoMA's Photography Until Now from the 80s. Kind of a trip to see what was considered good back then.

By the way, Getty is having a sale right now. EMAIL25 gets you 25% off.

 

[logan2z]

Been away from this thread for a while. Ended up getting Moriyama's Quartet and Todd Hido's Intimate Distance.

I'm kind of meh on the Moriyama book.

That's too bad, I really like it and don't have an issue with the printing. It seems about on par with the other Moriyama books I have and fairly consistent with the prints I've seen in person. Hopefully it'll grow on you...

 

[grainfall]

I've been shooting a lot of 4x5 in-studio botanical shots and recently picked up Mapplethorpe Flora: The Complete Flowers for some inspiration. I'm so glad I did. His shots really made me realize how much room there is to play with the background of a studio image - areas for visual interest beyond the subject.

This might all be common knowledge, but if you're into still life or botanical shots, it's absolutely worth checking out.

 

[Alex Benjamin]

I've been shooting a lot of 4x5 in-studio botanical shots and recently picked up Mapplethorpe Flora: The Complete Flowers for some inspiration. I'm so glad I did. His shots really made me realize how much room there is to play with the background of a studio image - areas for visual interest beyond the subject.

This might all be common knowledge, but if you're into still life or botanical shots, it's absolutely worth checking out.

I wish you hadn't written that. I've been eyeing it at the local bookstore, trying to resist. Now, what choice to I have?...

 

[grainfall]

I wish you hadn't written that. I've been eyeing it at the local bookstore, trying to resist. Now, what choice to I have?...

Oh, well consider this destiny! You'll love it. If you're even remotely interested in that kind of subject it's so worth having around.

 

[logan2z]

I wish you hadn't written that. I've been eyeing it at the local bookstore, trying to resist. Now, what choice to I have?...

If you haven't already, sign up for the Phaidon online newsletter and you'll get 20% off your order.

Mapplethorpe Flora: The Complete Flowers | Standard Edition | 9781838668211

The definitive collection of Robert Mapplethorpe’s flower photographs in a sophisticated new edition

www.phaidon.com

 

[MTGseattle]

I've been shooting a lot of 4x5 in-studio botanical shots and recently picked up Mapplethorpe Flora: The Complete Flowers for some inspiration. I'm so glad I did. His shots really made me realize how much room there is to play with the background of a studio image - areas for visual interest beyond the subject.

This might all be common knowledge, but if you're into still life or botanical shots, it's absolutely worth checking out.

Here are 2 more people who did nice botanical work (imho)

Flowers Exotic and Rare | Cy DeCosse

Tom Baril

A graduate of New York's School of Visual Arts, Tom Baril spent over fifteen years as Robert Mapplethorpe's master printer.

kochgallery.com

 

[MTGseattle]

Also (without turning this into a recurring New Topographics thread), Subjectively Objective put out a newsletter that was a "legacy of the New Topographics at 50 years" I'm likely butchering the title. I thought it was a decent read. I can throw in a link if that's ok with the group.