Documentary-collections Books

Aazing photographer... his photos are like paintings. text is also nice.
A 5 stars... no doubt!

Although you may have seen many of these images before, I would consider this to be 'The Best of Steve McCurry.' I thoroughly enjoyed that there is a description of how many of the images were taken, not from a technical photography perspective, but under what circumstances Steve made them. It gives you a deeper appreciation of each subject and the effort that went into how he gets such incredible shots. Bottom line: I have just about everything Steve has ever done---this is the best!

Very Interesting Book by a great Graphic designer and Artist. Would recommend to anyone interested in Art.

This is a gorgous book. Jaques was a legendary photographer in his day (Town & Country, Gourmet, etc, etc) and this is some of his best personality pics. If you want to be transported back to another era (40's and 50's) this one will do it.

"Steven Underhill takes a renewed look on the beauty of Californian men. The Volume 1 edition was the most successful book of him. The natural personality and the question 'are they straight?' have the wished[-]for effect. With strong man-like poses and a diversity of undress you can let your imagination go. Cowboy, student or football player--this book has lots to offer!"--© zebraz

If you love photograph's of HOT HUNKS -- THIS IS THE BOOK TO OWN ... as always Steven Underhill comes through

I was far to young to really appreciate the magic that was Studio 54 - yes the legendary nightclub was even known on these far distant shores. So this beautiful book of photographs is a way to remember and revel in those carefree heady days. Almost every big celebrity of the time paid a visit to the club and they are all captured here in beautiful black and white photographs. Impressive. A great coffee table book.

Fantastic photos from an age that will never be again. Takes people back to that reckless age and climate.

I was first introduced to Sugimoto about five years ago when I saw his Theatre series at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. His photos captured a kind of ghostly emptiness - white screens framed by the darkened outlines of seats. To capture the exposures he would leave the camera shutter open at a low aperture for an entire sitting of a film. I was really impressed at how he could transform two hours of motion into one eerily still exposure.

This new series of seascapes does not disappoint. At first, each of the prints seems tediously the same- the same horizon placed at the center of the frame, the same gray tones. Later, as you begin to explore each print and compare them, you realize the qualities of light vary tremendously from one to the next, as does the mist and the clouds and the shape of waves on the water. Once again, Sugimoto has captured a stillness that goes beyond ordinary experience.

Enjoy it.

This book is divided into four parts. The first, "Mathematical Forms: Surfaces" and the second "Mathematical Forms: Curves" consist of photographs of models that were created to illustrate trigonometric equations for mathematical study in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, like conic projections and spheres. The third part, "Mechanical Forms" shows models from the 19th century that demonstrated mechanical movements like cams and gears. The fourth part consists of photographs taken of an installation of the pictures from the first three parts as well as Sugimoto's reproduction of Marcel Duchamp's "Large Glass, or The Bride Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors, Even". This last part is so different from the first three that it must be considered on its own.

The first three parts show the models, in black and white prints, all apparently illuminated by a single light from the left, and because of this light, modeled in a way similar to the first drawings of a shadowed apple, made in a drawing class to teach the student how to create three dimensions on a two dimensional surface. The backgrounds to the models are completely in black. Sugimoto has said that although these models were created without artistic intention, they illustrate that "Art is possible without artistic intention and can be better without it."

Certainly the models are quite beautiful in their own right, but I suspect that if we saw, for example, one of these sets of gears, encrusted with grease in a machine, we might pass by it without a second glance or thought. Clearly, as far as these photographs go, it is the photographer's intention to portray the beauty of these objects, and to impose form on the content, that makes them beautiful and that makes the photographs art.

Each of the pictures is accompanied by text which describes what formula is portrayed (including the actual equations) or how the mechanical device works, but in most cases I suspect only mathematicians and engineers will understand this text. In any event, the pictures stand out on their own. There are also essays talking about the works, and to the extent they describe how the models came into being they are quite interesting. Once the essays get into aesthetics, and wander into semiotics, they became less useful to me.

I find the fourth part of the book as enigmatic as the original Duchamp. The pictures of the installation, in color, show it to have been a striking and beautiful setting. Sugimoto's reproduction of "The Large Glass" combines negatives and prints of the original work and sandwiches them between two pieces of glass, like the original. Unlike the original, where the figures were clearly made of bits of metal, the figures in the reproduction are clearly in black and white, and the object itself is smaller than the original. The inclusion of this work, so completely different from the first three parts, seems likely to be making a statement about the first three parts, but I was completely unable to puzzle out what the statement is.

Whether Sugimoto has succeeded in showing that "Art is possible without artistic intention and can be better without it." is not clear, but it is clear that these photographs are art.

from the cover of talking fashion you could almost tell this is a 1990s fashion photography book because you see kate moss making a funny face. just a short note that i used the word 90's here, the pictures in this book are all previously published in the various fashion magazines, such as harper's bazaar and uk vogue. if you follow fashion or fashion photography, you would naturally notice that most of the models you saw in this book are no longer actively being commissioned in today's editorial fashion spreads, except kate moss, carolyn murphy, carmen kass and gisele. also there is only one plate of gisele in the whole book. you will also find some pictures of celebrities here also such as madonna and johnny depp. apparently, for some reasons, sarajane hoare has decided using the works of the 90's instead of the more current ones. that means if you are looking for the pictures of natalia vodianova, you will not find it here. regardless, the pictures of kate and her peers of supermodels of the 1990s (such as bridget hall, helena christensen and more) are all over in this wonderful coffee table book, which is edited by sarajane hoare (the former fashion editor of british vogue and the former editor-at-large of harper's bazaar) and fabien baron (awarding-winning internationally acclaimed graphic designer, who has worked with the best in the fashion and entertainment industry). like most coffee table books, it is packed with superb prints on highest quality paper, as a design student, i know these. the amusing one liners from sarajane make it even more fun to enjoy these beautiful art fashion photographs by the best photographers of the industry (herb ritts, patrick demarchelier, terry richardson, peter lindbergh and more). if you are fans of the 90's fashion models and fashion photography, talking fashion is a must for your collection.

Sarajane Hoare is a magazine editor who decided to put together some really amazing fashion photographs for this book. She opens with a short discussion of what it takes to be in the industry and describes photoshoots as being calm amid the chaos of finding money, locations, and time for beauty. Then, the book explodes in a variety of gorgeous photographs from various photographers including big names like Patrick Demarchelier. It is artistically done with quotes inserted randomly.

There are many famous models included in this book, a real asset for fans of supermodels. Kate Moss, Carolyn Murphy, Kylie Bas, Stephanie Seymour, Cindy Crawford, Carmen Kass, Maggie Rizer, Isabella Rossellini, Veruschka, Lauren Hutton, Linda Evangelista, Christy Turlington, Naomi Campbell, Helena Christensen, Karen Elson, Shalow Harlow, Amber Valetta, Shana Phipps, Carre Otis, Milla Jovovich, and Gisele Bundchen grace the pages, several of them multiple times. This is a great coffee table book.

Gilles Peress helped redefine visual literacy with Telex:Iran influencing many of the current crop of photojournalists. Great reportage.

One of the finest photo-documentary studies I have ever seen.
Riveting, haunting, teller of truths.

To really know John Cohen and really to know so much about USA culture from the late 1950s until today, but particularly the part that the cultural dissonent and culturally cool parts of the folk and old time revival, and politically as well, you
really need to read this book and see this book

I make no secret of the fact that he has been one of my heroes since I about 58 was about 14, that I have enjoyed his writing and recording, and that through the luck mutual friends, I have met him. I sent my first published book autographed to him more than 30 years ago. I been seated with him at weddings. I have thrived not only on his music but his wonderful photographs,and his great collection of both Andean and Appalachian music for decades. I've been thrilled to see him performing at Newport Folk Festivals, in folk clubs, in living rooms. I am not objectiove, JOHN COHEN IS MY HERO.

However, after forty some years of this, this book hit me and struck me hard, as an important statement about the whole history of USA culture from the 1950s on. After all, John Cohen along with Dave Van Ronk was one of the first persons to feel Bob Dylan was significant. In one of his wildest anti-everything periods, Dylan still wrote and said, "You are right John Cohen," for the sensitive interviews John made with him, for John's sensitive films and photographs sampled here, for introducing John to Allen Ginsburg and other leaders of the Beat art and poetry movement who John started among.

At the same time John was and is a great traditional folk music performer, one of the great members of the New Lost City Ramblers, as well as a player on his own independent CDS. More than that, he is a great collector of both Andean and Appalachian folk music. In this book most importantly for me, John;s photographs and commentary with his relationship with the great musicial genius Roscoe Holcomb of Kentucky, further explicated in his liner notes to his second CD of Holcomb's work "An Untamed Sense of Control" is worth the whole book.


Also you gain a lot of knowledge or better feel for John as an artist who knew the abstract expressionists and the photographers who parallelled them. This is a great book for anyone who remembers the original Cedar Tavern or even the later/current one. This is a great book for people who need to know and feel the way that art and music tried to bridge the gap between the plastic, commercial, prefabricated, cardborn cookie cutter, drek that the consumer society and Madison Avenue and the Brill building dish out, and the liberating spirit of humanity. Not bragadocio layered, sticking out their thumb at normal people, mud in your eye, adolescent rebellion garbage.

Read this, and you find hope, and maybe know how to build a life. At the wedding our John and my best friend, I gave the couple an album of photographs I had taken in Nevada, knowing John and my friend had just returned from a photographic tour in a small plane of the southwest, some of whose pictures are in the book. I also gave a joke biography of myself, entitled how I wanted to be the next John Cohen

Not a bad thing to be.

TT

I treated myself to this book for its relationship with and inclusion of many subjects of my interest: photography, folk & bluegrass music, roots culture, beat culture, NYC 60s art culture, & exotic travel. When I read the description here, I thought, "wow, this sounds like one hell of a great book, tailored to my passions." Well, it's better than that. John Cohen is one lucky guy to have witnessed & recorded all that's in this book. The text is adequately sparse (for a 200-page book), but well-written and provides just enough accompaniment for the fascinating photography reproduced here. Regardless the title, looking through John Cohen's eyes is an ecstatic experience, taking one away to seemingly faraway times and places, especially for someone who was born in the 1970s (me). There is a story within each image, and the large scale of the prints makes you want to crawl inside each one and figure out what's going on. It's an Italian-made book, which explains the high quality; and it's the best ($) I've spent since Dylan was last in town.

Tibet- Caught In Time By John Clarke, Foreword by the Dalai Lama: For anyone interested in the Himalayas or Buddhism, this book is so interesting. It features the collection of photos made by two British diplomats to Tibet in the early 1900's, John Claude White and Sir Charles Bell. Bell lived in Sikkim for two decades and photographed there and the majestic top of the world mountains. He documented life among the Tibetan people as it had been almost unchanged for many centuries before the Chinese occupation. Bell, who came after White, also lived in region for decades and spoke fluent Tibetan. He became a close friend of the 13th Dalai Lama and his family and, as such, was privy to many private events before the Dalai Lama had to seek refuge in India and was able to photograph and describe these occasions. The historic commentaries comprise a special window in time and a place and way of life which are gone. Their photographs and diaries and notes are priceless collections in the Victoria and Albert Museum where Clarke is a curator.

I'm more into photography than anything else, which is why I read this book. The photos are fabulous -- Tibet is so complex and fascinating and funny! Not just monks and solemn things, also farmers having picnic lunches with beer, kids playing, markets, festivals, fabulous costumes and headdresses. Really, if you want to see how extraorinary and intricate Tibetan culture was (before the Chinese, at least!) this is the book to buy. Fab fab fab!

I own all three Mauskopf's books: A Time Not Here, Rodeo, and Dark Horses. If you like black&white documentary photography you should consider to buy them as well. The quality of photos in these books is comparable to those of Robert Frank, or Cartier-Bresson...

You will be astounded by Norman Mauskopf's beautiful images of the mississippi delta in his book "A Time Not Here." The images follow the local people of the region through the most important aspects of their lives; mostly surrounding religion and their extreme faith. Mauskopf followed the mississippi delta natives through church services, musical performances, weddings and funerals. These spectacular images are also accompanied by beautiful landscapes of the delta and a few intimate portraits of some residents there. The photographs are accompanied by a fabulous essay written by Randall Kenan. Through the outstanding images and essay, you will feel a conection with the people that Mauskoph photographs... he is able to capture their spirit as well as the spirit of the land and their home. He enables you to empathize with them in their happiness and in their pain. As a photographer myself, i was immediately influenced by the gorgeous work that i found in this book.