any reccommendations for a good photo essay book?

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With valentines day coming up, I was going to drop some hints to my wife for a good photo essay book. Any reccomendations?

-- greg mason (gmason1661@aol.com), January 31, 2002

Answers

Wouldn´t know if you can call it photo essay, but if you look for something fairly big, suited for a coffetable try: S. Salgado, EXODUS the book on refugees.

A must for the LEICA enthusiast.

Best egards

-- K. G. Wolf (k.g.wolf@web.de), January 31, 2002.


Not an essay book, but you might like "W. Eugene Smith: Shadow and Substance - The Life and Work of an American Photographer" by Jim Hughes.

For essays, I sort of like some of the classics, such as "The Creation" by Ernst Haas or "The Americans" by Robert Frank.

The latest acquisition has been "Ansel Adams at 100" which is just beautiful (and expensive).

-Nick

-- Nicholas Wybolt (nwybolt@earthlink.net), January 31, 2002.


Dream Street W. Eugene Smith's Pittsburgh Project.

-- Bob Tipton (btip487@msn.com), January 31, 2002.

Two lesser-known items:

Return to Mexico: Journeys Beyond the Mask, by Abbas (Iranian photographer, Magnum, Leica)

Picture Mumbai: Landmarks of a New Generation (a remarkable project involving school kids in Bombay, using P&S Nikons--this really is a great book, but your wife might wonder why you need such expensive equipment when these kids get such good results with the P&S)

Good luck!

-- Preston Merchant (merchant@speakeasy.org), January 31, 2002.


Also not really an essay, more a retrospective: Crosstown, by Helen Levitt. Beautiful book and the early work (1936-1948) is marvelous.

Another wonderful retrospective: Wisdom Cries Out in the Streets, by Louis Stettner.

For a photo essay (kind of), try to find a copy of Progreso, by Charles Harbutt (it's not a big book but it's getting scarce).

-- Robert Schneider (rolopix@yahoo.com), January 31, 2002.



The Eugene Smith books are very good as well as the Sabastiao Salgago books. My favorite Salgodo book is titled Other Americans. Great South and Central America images.

I also recomend Witness of Time by Flor Garduno. I have no idea what she shoots with, and nor does it matter. The images are outstanding.

Regards Steve

-- Steve Belden (otterpond@tds.net), January 31, 2002.


Witness of Time by Flor Garduno

This is a phenomenal book, and it's great that it is finally out in the US. The printing in the Aperture book is just beautiful, also.

I'm fairly certain she shoots medium format. I corresponded with her a few years ago but it wasn't about equipment.

-- Jeff Spirer (jeff@spirer.com), January 31, 2002.


Hey Greg- I have recently picked up Mary Ellen Mark's "American Odyssey" and recommend it. She works with Leicas, amoung others.

Also recently found a copy of George Tice's Urban Romantic, which is rare and out of print, but I recommend it to anyone who can find it- it's a stunning collection of photographs from a lesser known true master of the craft. Tice has also recently released a couple of new collections, in small paperback format, intentionally designed to be inexpensive (but still good reporductions of his spectacular and well crafted large format images) so that they would be more accesible. This guy should be better known. Anyone who checks out his work will be rewarded with his weird story, off-kilter vision, and masterful prints. I especially dig his images of rural Maine and Lancaster County Pensylvannia.

Anyway, Greg, there are so many great photo books out there, I know you'll have a great Valentines Day. So what are you going to get HER?

-- drew (swordfisher@hotmail.com), January 31, 2002.


"Maroc", photographs of Morocco + its people by Albert Watson. Beautiful images, very well done, superb printing technique.

jeremyT blue, Ink.

-- jeremyT (jerthomas@earthlink.net), January 31, 2002.


The most recent additions to my collection are "Magnum Degrees" (which is not really an essay but a collection of recent work from Magnum) and "Portraits of America" by William Albert Allard (same).

-- Anon Terry (anonht@yahoo.com), January 31, 2002.


Greg,

It is out of print but I would consider the photographic essay by William Allard. IMO one of the best books on the subject. The author talks about field work as well as technical aspects of doing essays, the photography is wonderful as well.

Tom

-- Tom Gallagher (tgallagher10@yahoo.com), January 31, 2002.


Ralph Gibson's "Deux Ex Machina," a retropspective of a 5o year career as a Leica Photographer. It's a book about photography, and not about causes.

-- Glenn Travis (leicaddict@hotmail.com), January 31, 2002.

Enduring Spirits by Phil Borges. Fast disappearing culture. Gorgeous medium format work and great selective hand toning. Proceeds goes to the Amnesty International.

-- Steven Fong (steven@ima.org.sg), January 31, 2002.

Here are a few:

Allard again--"Vanishing Breed"

David Alan Harvey---"Cuba" Imight draw some flames for this one.

If you can find it---Bruce Davidson's "Subway"--Try a college Library.

I don't have this one, but how about Jodi Cobb's "Geisha" or ANYTHING by Eugene Richards: --Below the Line, --Knife and Gun Club, Americans We, Dorchester days( WHICH WAS re-released last year.), "Cocaine True, Cocaine Blue."

Shelby Lee Adams: "Appalacian Portraits" OR "Appalacian Legacy"

More Allard: "A Time We Knew" --about Basques in Europe.

Brian Lanker--"I Dream a World."

Sandro--"American Bikers"

David Graham--"Land of the Free," or"Taking Liberties."

Jill Freedman, "Circus Days"

Shall I go on?

Some of these may require spending some time browsing used book stores, but all are well worth it.

WHEW!

-- Tom Nutter (tmnphotos@erols.com), February 01, 2002.


One More---and if you can find a copy, I'll buy it from you,

--Les Krimms, "The Stack-O-Wheats Murders."

This is not an essay in the true sense of the word, but it's hilarious. It's a series of staged photos of "scenes of the crime" where a supposed serial killer leaves a stack of Wheat pancakes next to each body.

-- Tom Nutter (tmnphotos@erols.com), February 01, 2002.



Hi Greg,

Good luck in your quest, I hope you get what you want. Maybe, in return, your wife would appreciate a photo essay book created by YOU for St. Valentine's day 2003? :-)

-- Ray Moth (ray_moth@yahoo.com), February 01, 2002.


Greg, I offer "Robert Doisneau A Photographer's Life" by Peter Hamilton. Not an essay but a great read. Lyrical photographs, good writing, an interesting life, and a critical time in history. As a bonus, Doisneau's take on technique and the cameras he used. Bought his first Leica, a IIIc, in the early '50s. Ed

-- Ed DeAngelis (edeange769@aol.com), February 01, 2002.

Dennis Stocks books Provence Memories and New England are beautiful and great examples of it's the photographer and not the cameras that take the pictures. Both were done and extensively documented with technical data from an Olympus OM System. Fulvio Roiter did several beautiful books on Venice with the R Leica system (a few M shots). Fred J. Maroon did a stunning book on the US, These United States, also with Leica R system plus quite a few pictures with Leica M/21mm. He also did a great book illustrating the US Capitol. And of course Ernst Haas In America, In Germany & Color Photography. There were quite a few years when I couldn't afford books or cameras. I kept my M Leicas but missed a lot of books when they first came out. I have been upgrading my Leica system these last couple of years and I have been on AbeBooks.com lately buying some of the photo books I missed the first time around. Good luck.

-- Don (wgpinc@yahoo.com), February 01, 2002.

I would recommend Falkland Road, by Mary Ellen Mark, and Winterreise, by Luc Delahaye. My two favourite photo books.

-- rob (rob@robertappleby.com), February 01, 2002.

W. Eugene Smith: Minamata. The guiding light of passionate, in depth photo essays. Find it at abebooks.com.

-- chuck (chckfishman@aol.com), February 03, 2002.

A Greek Portfolio by Constantine Manos. All Leica M, tri-x in Rodinal. Beautiful images.

-- Don (wgpinc@yahoo.com), February 03, 2002.

Ooh, how could I forget: "Signs & Relics," by Sylvia Plachy. One of my recent favorites. Photos (some old, some new) grouped by ideas or themes. Lots of fun.

-- Robert Schneider (rolopix@yahoo.com), February 04, 2002.

"Suburbia," new edition, by Bill Owens.

-- (bmitch@home.com), February 04, 2002.

Olympic Portraits ~Annie Lebovitz

-- Ken Kwok (kk353@yahoo.com), February 05, 2002.

Get "Self Portrait USA" by David Douglas Duncan. True Leica photog with a SL plus Telyt 400mm lens. No complaints but how did he handhold each shot?

-- Alfie Wang (leica_phile@hotmail.com), February 06, 2002.

How about a classic "Family of Man"?

-- Andy Wijono (andywijono@hotmail.com), February 07, 2002.

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