On My Bookshelf

I have a fair amount of photography books for two reasons.  First, I like to visit used bookstores, and second, I enjoy looking at them and learn something while doing it.  Owning monographs is the next best thing to owning original photographs, especially if the book is nicely printed.  But I think there are additional benefits to owning books of a photographer you admire, most notably the opportunity you as the viewer gets to see a particular body of work and how the pictures relate to one and other.

My intent here is to periodically feature books I own and particularly like, that you might also enjoy.  Don’t expect formal book reviews; there are others that specialize in doing that.  Rather I will present a few reasons why I like the book and think it’s a good one to have on your shelf.  Some selections you may be likely familiar with, others maybe not so much.  Please note that they will be randomly selected so the order I present them has no significance whatsoever.  So here goes!

John Loengard, Pictures Under Discussion

Growing up, one of my greatest thrills was when the weekly Life Magazine would arrive in the mail. Eventually Life became a monthly and finally went out of circulation with the new millennium, a casualty of the Internet I suppose. Most of the Twentieth Century’s great documentary photographers were published on its pages. John Loengard was one of them and perhaps the most influential. He joined Life in the early Sixties, became one of its greatest photographers and eventually its Picture Editor. Pictures Under Discussion is his first book, published in 1987 and it’s terrific!!!

The book contains about 80 Black and White photographs; some very famous and iconic, but half were never published before; they are the ones the photographer used for lectures he gave while teaching at New York’s New School. The focus is on people, objects and some landscapes. Of course the pictures are wonderful, but the real bonus is that Loengard provides his very revealing thoughts about the making of each picture, what his inspiration was, along with aesthetic and technical considerations.

Studying this book – viewing the photographs and reading Loengard’s commentary concerning each one is like taking a workshop with a legend!! Something truly to be treasured and learned from!

This master class is readily available both in hard and softcover editions. So there is no excuse not to run out and get a copy for yourself. You won’t be disappointed!

Ragnar Axelsson, Faces of the North

Let me get right to the point … you must have this book! I can’t remember how or where I heard about it because I had never come across Ragnar Axelsson, otherwise known as RAX before — but boy I am glad I own it!!

Faces of the North established RAX as one of the great photographers — documentary or otherwise — of our time. This fact is recognized in the book’s preface, written by the late great Mary Ellen Mark. The focus is on the harsh and austere environment of Greenland, Iceland and the Faroe Islands, and those who inhabit these places. My guess is that this will be their last great document before they and their cultures are fundamentally altered by climate change and modernity.

The book contains about 100 black and white photographs that can only be described as stark. This is not a romantic portrait. When I look at the pictures I literally begin to feel that I am in the middle of a blizzard in the freezing cold. I sense what its like to be working together with the dogs and horses in the blustery wind. I believe I’m on the boat, helping to row it on choppy artic waters. I’m in the simple homes gazing out the doorways or windows.

The feeling is like what I get when I listen to a spectacular and great sounding jazz record … I sense the players are right in the room with me. Yes, these pictures are that real! I constantly come back to this wonderful book and always discover something new.

In some ways this book reminds me of one of Paul Strand’s great masterpieces and another favorite of mine, Tir A’ Mhurain, The Outer Hebrides of Scotland.

First published in 2004, Faces of the North quickly went out of print. However, it’s now available again, so do yourself a favor and get it; don’t miss out on an opportunity to cherish something special for a lifetime!

Aaron Siskind 100

In my opinion Aaron Siskind was of the great 20th Century photographers. His primary focus was the abstract; his subjects were paint on streets and walls, portions of rock formations, sand, weathered objects and other found fragments that caught his imagination. Published in 1993 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of his birth, this is a stupendous retrospective of his life work.

In 2004 I was fortunate to see a major exhibit of his photographs at the great Phillips Collection in Washington, DC. If you ever get a chance to see his work, do it! I don’t think Siskind is exhibited nearly as much as some of the other Masters, such as Adams, Weston, Strand and Stieglitz, so the next best thing is to get his book if you can. Unfortunately it had a limited production run so it is out of print and somewhat pricy. I was lucky enough to purchase it when it first came out, but if I didn’t own it now and had to make a decision on how to spend my scarce photo book dollars, it would surely be at the top of my list.

The large reproductions of Siskind’s black and white photographs are beautifully printed, each on a single page, facing a page containing only the name of the image and the year it was made. Clean and elegant. His “Credo” that guided his work is also included as an introduction.

What is so important about this book is that it shows you that it is possible to produce deeply meaningful and personal black and white photographs in your own surroundings (another very different example of this is Paul Strand’s exquisite photographs made in his garden). Perhaps abstract is not your cup of tea, but Siskind proves that there are no excuses for not being able to go out make photographs wherever you are.

Look at this wonderful book and be inspired to get out there and be more aware of the limitless possibilities that lie before you!

Edward and Brett Weston: Dune

What a wonderful book! If you like gorgeous black and white landscape images focused on the great deserts of the Southwest … and you like Edward Weston and his son Brett Weston … then this book is for you! Actually, even if you are on the fence about photographs of sand dunes, this is a book that deserves to be on everyone’s bookshelf.

It’s an interesting concept carried out masterfully. The book contains great introductory essays by Edward’s one time wife and muse Charis Wilson, and Brett’s friend and biographer John Charles Woods. Also included are wonderful excerpts taken from correspondences between father and son.

But what really counts though are the beautifully reproduced images of the great sand dunes, presented in a way that enables them to stand on their own for the treasures they are, but also in a manner that allows us to compare and contrast the vision of two of the Twentieth Century’s most important photographers.

This extraordinary book is bargain and still in print. Get it; you won’t be sorry!

Wright Morris, Photographs and Words

Recently I was in a little used bookstore in Fredericksburg, Virginia and saw a copy of one of my favorite photography books, Photographs and Words, by Wright Morris. I thought my son might enjoy it so I picked it up for a great price! Morris was a great writer and photographer who pioneered the concept of the “photo-text” in the 1940s, combining his photography with his writing to tell a story. His photo-text books included The Inhabitants, The Home Place and God’s Country and My People.

The Friends of Photography published Photographs and Words in 1982; it focuses on Morris’ wonderful black and white photographs of rural scenes, interiors and found objects taken in the Midwest during the late 1930s through 1950. This was an intense period of photographic exploration for Morris. After this time he focused mostly on his writing. What makes this book so special is that you have both wonderful images from the American heartland, made at a time seemingly long past, as well as a fascinating introductory essay by Morris that discusses his photographic life. It’s amazing how fascinating pictures of common objects such as eating utensils, the contents of a dresser drawer or old coats hanging on a wall become through Morris’ acute vision. Because Morris was such an accomplished photographer and writer it adds up to wonderful combination!

While Morris is probably remembered more for his novels and essays, he was a great photographer! This monograph is truly enjoyable and I look at it often.

Ansel Adams, Examples: The Making of 40 Photographs

Ok, if you don’t know who Ansel Adams is or have never seen any of his work, please immediately shut down your computer and run to the nearest library or bookstore! There is no denying he is one most important photographers of the 20th Century. I have many of his books and have been fortunate enough to see his photographs in the flesh on a number of occasions (I was also fortunate enough to step onto the hallowed ground that is his darkroom!!). I picked this book first for several reasons: (1) it contains a selection of 40 terrific and iconic images, many that are rightfully famous and a few less well known; (2) the reproductions are beautiful; and (3) Adams is a great writer; he eloquently describes the circumstances surrounding the making of each photograph, as well as some useful technical information such as negative size, film and lens used and printing paper to make the final print. Almost like taking a photography workshop from the Master himself!

What is so important about this book is that you look at each photograph and then read what he was thinking about when he made it, why he decided to make it and why it was meaningful to him. Furthermore you learn about the trials and tribulations in producing the final results and that not all satisfied him. Not all was easy in making them, either due to personal error, limitations in the materials he used or other reasons. It turns out that he was human just like the rest of us! Finally you find out that he often modified his printing approach for certain important images as time went by. Remember, it was Adams that said, “the negative is the equivalent of the composer’s score, and the print the performance.” So true!

I have read this book many times, finding it both informative and inspirational. In my opinion, it is an essential book in any photography library.