Shashin
Well-known member
I will kick this off by listing two classics, two from last century and the other from the century before that:
A Choice of Weapons. The autobiography of Gordon Parks. Parks is an amazing talent in his own right: photographer, director, novelist, poet, and composer. His biography just makes his achievements even more remarkable. It is also a fascinating historical document in its own right.
Dialogue with Photography, Paul Hill and Thomas Cooper. This is a collection of interviews with some of the most influential photographers in the 20th century. It gives a fascinating insight to this period of photographic history and the minds that were behind it.
Naturalistic Photography and the Death of Naturalistic Photography, Peter Henry Emerson. This is one of the most influential text from 19th photography that had a profound influence on 20th photographers such as Strand and Steichen. You can get a reprint of both of these publications from Arno Press (and now out of print). It is both a philosophic treaty on what would become straight photograph as well as an introduction to the photographic process of the era--a fun section on optics and lenses. The Death of Naturalistic Photography is where Emerson refutes his ideas in the first work. Peter Henry Emerson was an influential photographer in his own right and produced some of the most beautiful work of his age.
A Choice of Weapons. The autobiography of Gordon Parks. Parks is an amazing talent in his own right: photographer, director, novelist, poet, and composer. His biography just makes his achievements even more remarkable. It is also a fascinating historical document in its own right.
Dialogue with Photography, Paul Hill and Thomas Cooper. This is a collection of interviews with some of the most influential photographers in the 20th century. It gives a fascinating insight to this period of photographic history and the minds that were behind it.
Naturalistic Photography and the Death of Naturalistic Photography, Peter Henry Emerson. This is one of the most influential text from 19th photography that had a profound influence on 20th photographers such as Strand and Steichen. You can get a reprint of both of these publications from Arno Press (and now out of print). It is both a philosophic treaty on what would become straight photograph as well as an introduction to the photographic process of the era--a fun section on optics and lenses. The Death of Naturalistic Photography is where Emerson refutes his ideas in the first work. Peter Henry Emerson was an influential photographer in his own right and produced some of the most beautiful work of his age.