What inspiring photography book did you read or buy recently?

[Peter Schrager]

I read the Sally Mann book last month. it was a good read and I love her work but there seems to be a shadow of death that permeates throughout. just my 2 cents!!
best, peter

 

[Black Dog]

Self Portrait by Lee Friedlander
The Stilled Gaze by John Blakemore

Two very different but equally intriguing ways of seeing through the eye of a lens.

 

[Pioneer]

I read the Sally Mann book last month. it was a good read and I love her work but there seems to be a shadow of death that permeates throughout. just my 2 cents!!
best, peter

That is an interesting thought Peter. I have noticed that in her writing as well. Right now all I can say for sure at this point in my read is that her perspective is quite a bit different than most. She has certainly been the focus of a fair amount of public controversy so it is interesting to see it from her side.

Until I started this book I really had not spent much time reviewing her work, but I'll certainly have to do it now. My granddaughter found the book in the bookstore and, since it was about a photographer, bought it for me thinking that I would enjoy it.

 

[SJRichardson]

Aaron Siskind and Louis Sullivan: The Institute of Design Photo Section Project. Interesting read with some great photos by Aaron and his students.

 

[mike c]

Ernst Haas - Die Schöpfung / The creation

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2217410.The_Creation

My Mother bought that book (The Creation) back in 1971 when it first came out, really liked it then as well as now. Very good examples of Kodachrome I and II colors.It is a more or less coffee table book, but in the glossery he does go in to detail of every photograph.

 

[macfred]

Jitka Hanzlova http://www.artbooksheidelberg.de/data/pdf/presseinfo jitka hanzlova.pdf
This book accompanies an exhibition being held in Madrid at Fundacion Mapfre in 2012, and is a unique opportunity to approach in depth her photographic series.
Also available in English language.

 

[ColColt]

I've made mention before how I'm a big fan of Margaret Bourke-White simply because she was a great photographer, very lovely and absolutely fearless. Having several of her books I just finished, "They Call if Purple Heart Valley", where she was right up on the front lines with the rest of them dodging bullets and artillery shells from Nazi Germany while in Italy having to hide in muddy fox holes and simple tents as she still was able to get her shots she wanted. Many times she had to decide whether to cover her head with her helmet or use it to cover her camera gear.

A great book about this fascinating woman and her job as war correspondent for Life magazine she also flew along with the guys who ran bombing missions over Germany. I know of no other woman that was as fearless and determined to get the story...one helluva woman!

http://www.baumanrarebooks.com/rare...hey-called-it-purple-heart-valley-/76452.aspx

 

[CatLABS]

My copy of Papersafe from Catlabs was fairly inspiring (to me, at least)

You should check out the new one... (#5)

 

[HiHoSilver]

ColColt - your recommendation is enough to have me looking at Bourke-White (hate hyphenated names). She looks fascinating. Each review echos your impressions. Thanks for the tips.

 

[ColColt]

She was a real gutsy woman, make no mistake. The first woman to work for Fortune and Life magazine and had the front cover of the first Life issue back in the mid 30's.

"Moments in History" and "Dear Fatherland, Rest Quietly" are two others that are superb with the latter being about the fall of Nazi Germany with a lot of never before seen photos. Both are highly recommended.

 

[HiHoSilver]

Thanks again, Col.

 

[ColColt]

You bet-get a few of her books, you'll enjoy them.

Margaret.JPG by David Fincher, on Flickr

 

[mike c]

Just bought a book titled Koudelka, its the works of Josef Koudelke. There are some pretty in tense photographs mostly in Eastern Europe in the last half the 1900's , pretty creative stuff more on the journalistic side but also he used a wide format camera a little.

 

[Nodda Duma]

"The History of the Photographic Lens", by Rudolph Kingslake.

 

[Sirius Glass]

"The History of the Photographic Lens", by Rudolph Kingslake.

I read that too.

 

[doughowk]

Two recently published books that are very inspiring:

Irving Penn "Beyond Beauty" - an exhibition catalogue by Smithsonian that is a good retrospective of his work.

Michael A. Smith "Iceland: a Personal View" - Iceland has inspired many photographers. Most photograph the sublime, but Michael uses his panorama camera searching for detailed images that reward repeated viewing. And as a bonus, there are his color images of Icelandic homes.

 

[images39]

Saul Leiter in Black and White. Really like his work.

Dale

 

[Black Dog]

Saul Leiter in Black and White. Really like his work.

Dale

Me too-he's become one of my favourite photographers. It would be fantastic to see a major retrospective of his work some time soon.

 

[removed account4]

emil schildt / gandolfi's bromoil book

 

[CropDusterMan]

"Images of Greatness"
An Intimate look at the Presidency of Ronald Reagan


Images of Pete Souza (Former White House Photographer.

 

[MAubrey]

I'm not sure it counts as "inspiring" per se, but I just bought Ansel Adam's three volume set The Camera, The Negative, and The Print. Granted, there are some brilliant images in all of them.

 

[Sirius Glass]

I'm not sure it counts as "inspiring" per se, but I just bought Ansel Adam's three volume set The Camera, The Negative, and The Print. Granted, there are some brilliant images in all of them.

Welcome to APUG

 

[TheToadMen]

I'm not sure it counts as "inspiring" per se, but I just bought Ansel Adam's three volume set The Camera, The Negative, and The Print. Granted, there are some brilliant images in all of them.

A must read for any serious photographer.

 

[lauffray]

Masakazu Murakami - Kumogakure Onsen

 

[swittmann]

Arnold Crane: 'On the other side of the camera' is one of my favorite books.

I also love 'Images of the seventh day' by Michael Kenna.

My latest purchase was a little book with works of Sudek.

These are the books that mean the most to me, with these three photographers speaking a 'photographic language' that deeply connects with my soul.