Planet Earth: As You've Never Seen It Before
Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
  • Planet Earth.
  • Planet Earth: As You've Never Seen It Before
  • A Great Coffee Table Book
  • magnificent
  • Glorious
Planet Earth: As You've Never Seen It Before
Alastair Fothergill
Manufacturer: University of California Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0520250540

Book Description

A visual odyssey that will change the way we see our planet, this remarkable book, companion to the acclaimed Discovery Channel/ BBC series, is an enduring and awe-inspiring record of one of the most ambitious natural history projects ever undertaken. Using the latest aerial surveillance, state-of-the-art cameras, and high definition technology, the creators of Planet Earth have assembled more than 400 stunning photographs of wondrous natural landscapes from around the globe, including incredible footage of the rarely spotted, almost mythical creatures that live in these habitats. Many of the images reveal inaccessible places that few have seen and record animal behavior that has never been filmed or photographed before. With the help of this highly advanced technology and the world's premier wildlife photographers, the book takes us on a spectacular journey from the world's greatest rivers and impressive gorges, to its mightiest mountains, hidden caves and caverns, and vast deserts. Planet Earth captures breathtaking sequences of predators and their prey, lush vistas of forests viewed from the tops of towering trees, the oceans and their mysterious creatures viewed from beneath the surface, and much more--in a magnificent adventure that brings unknown wonders of the natural world into our living rooms.
Copub: BBC Worldwide Americas

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars Planet Earth........2007-08-14

Wow!!! my 8 year old loves this DVD. Very interesting to watch. Does have some parts that my 8 year old has a trouble watching, this is the section of life and death in the food chain. Otherwise highly recommended, in HD DVD is Awesome....

5 out of 5 stars Planet Earth: As You've Never Seen It Before.......2007-08-10

I have not had a chance to even break the seal on this new book as yet. I skimmed this book at a bookstore, and then decided to buy it. If you saw the mini-series on Discovery or Animal Planet, you will be impressed with this book as well. For those with children, this book is a must.

5 out of 5 stars A Great Coffee Table Book.......2007-08-04

A great companion book to the dvd series.

5 out of 5 stars magnificent.......2007-07-30

Amazing photos and wonderous facts regarding everything imaginable to the unusual. Our family has enjoyed this educational and spellbinding photography.

5 out of 5 stars Glorious.......2007-07-27

Beautifully photographed and informational, this book should be on every nature lover's shelf. The "Planet Earth" series, which I watch weekly on Animal Planet, is even more jaw-dropping. I thank the generous and unbelievably courageous people who have the cojones to make this possible!

Julie Townsend
Metairie, LA
Photography
Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • BOOK USED FOR BUFFALO STATE UNIVERSITY CLASS
  • Books for my Daughter
  • Great book
  • Great Technical Intro
  • Great thorough photography book
Photography
Barbara London , and John Upton
Manufacturer: Prentice Hall
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0131896091

Amazon.com

A picture tells a thousand stories, but the one it doesn't tell is how the shot was made. Barbara London and John Upton's Photography is an all-inclusive look at the craft of photography. This book will help any amateur move up a few notches, and it serves as a refresher course for professionals as well. The sixth edition of this classic work (the first was published in 1976) includes a companion Web site with interactive activities, Web resources, and a learning archive. Amply illustrated with at least one photograph or diagram on almost every page, Photography is the one reference work every student of photography must have--even those who will never set foot in a classroom. --Brenda Pittsley

Book Description

This best-selling, comprehensive guide to photography—featuring superb instructional illustrations—is the most cutting-edge photography book on the market. It offers extensive coverage of digital imaging—with the latest technological developments, such as Web page design and formatting photos on CD-ROMs. Chapter topics explore the process of getting started, camera, lens, film and light, exposure, processing the negative, mounting and finishing, color, digital camera, digital darkroom, lighting, special techniques, view camera, zone system, seeing photographs, and the history of photography. Step-by-step instructions include a “Lights Out” feature to help learners better identify darkroom techniques. For anyone with a personal or professional interest in photography.

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars BOOK USED FOR BUFFALO STATE UNIVERSITY CLASS.......2007-09-29

Book is very informational. It is printed on heavy gloss paper stock, every page is full of pictures and illistations. Printed in USA.

5 out of 5 stars Books for my Daughter.......2007-09-22

I bought my daughter's books through Amazon, instead of the campus book store. This book was one of five. I saved 50% by doing this. I would recommend Amazon to any student buying books.

5 out of 5 stars Great book.......2007-08-21

I had to buy this book for school. Its an great book. Good example photos and very easy to understand.

Check out my photos at:www.myspace.com/davidjwright1

5 out of 5 stars Great Technical Intro.......2007-08-04

I'm giving this book 5 stars because I couldn't put it down.

As an amateur in photography, this book really helped explain the technical background behind all the numbers and jargon strewn throughout magazines, photography websites, manuals and so forth.

While other books tried to explain concepts such as depth of field in relation to aperture, this was the book that made everything click for me. It wasn't filled with facts to memorize, it had explanations that I could understand.

After reading this book I really felt like I had a firm grasp of the technical groundwork for learning photography. I have a much greater understanding and appreciation for the technical debates now and instead of my eyes hazing over when I see numbers, they are meaningful for me and I look for them. Because I understand instead of memorized, I am able to ask the right questions and notice when things don't make sense or are missing.

Perhaps the greatest thing this book did for me though, is to make me realize that understanding the technicalities of photography is not what makes a good photographer. I started to see that it takes a lot of experience and a good eye to imagine, compose and create a picture. I started to see that perhaps those things are actually more important than perfect exposure.

So while I learned a lot it was also a little humbling for me. It gave me a better respect for photography and photographers. It really opened up a whole world for me.

A lot of viewers noted that the digital section of the book was a little light. And while I think it was, the point of the book is not to be a cookbook. Rather I think that it is an introduction into the world of photography, and digital imaging really is only a very small piece of that world.

This book has definitely broadened my world of photography. I have a better understanding that photography isn't just something learned in a book, but by a continuous process of learning how to make pictures.

I really liked this book because I felt like it gave me the foundation to start the process of learning how to make great pictures. It has given me the ability to better critique and adjust my photography. This book was a springboard that has inspired me to dive deeper and learn more about photography.

5 out of 5 stars Great thorough photography book.......2007-05-30

I bought it for a beginning photo class and love it.
A Photographer's Life: 1990-2005
Average customer rating: 4 out of 5 stars
  • Great photography book
  • not a copiest
  • The size of this book!
  • A Celebration of Ugly and I Don't Care
  • Well ... is exactly like the title says ...
A Photographer's Life: 1990-2005

Manufacturer: Random House
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Leibovitz, AnnieLeibovitz, Annie | ( J-L ) | Artists, A-Z | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0375505091
Release Date: 2006-10-03

Book Description

“I don’t have two lives,” Annie Leibovitz writes in the Introduction to this collection of her work from 1990—2005. “This is one life, and the personal pictures and the assignment work are all part of it.” Portraits of well-known figures–Johnny Cash, Nicole Kidman, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Keith Richards, Michael Jordan, Joan Didion, R2-D2, Patti Smith, Nelson Mandela, Jack Nicholson, William Burroughs, George W. Bush with members of his Cabinet–appear alongside pictures of Leibovitz’s family and friends, reportage from the siege of Sarajevo in the early Nineties, and landscapes made even more indelible through Leibovitz’s discerning eye. The images form a narrative rich in contrasts and continuities: The photographer has a long relationship that ends with illness and death. She chronicles the celebrations and heartbreaks of her large and robust family. She has children of her own. All the while she is working, and the public work resonates with the themes of her life.

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars Great photography book.......2007-09-17

I've been wanting this book for a while and to have found it here for under $75 I was excited and bought it immediately. A Photographer's Life: 1990-2005 by Annie Leibovitz mixes photos of famous faces and intimate photos of her family, close friends and a few landscapes. I really enjoyed all of the photos. The book is so big I have yet to get through the whole thing! It was well worth the money I am defiantly now a fan of Leibovitz.

4 out of 5 stars not a copiest.......2007-09-14

Great artists are inspired by others and yes, one can see other photographer's work in Annie's. I consider her one of the greats, right up there with Irving Penn, Avedon, Mapplethorpe and found the text very interesting. This book is a bargain considering the depth of information and production quality.

4 out of 5 stars The size of this book!.......2007-09-10

I was surprised at the size of this book! It is much thicker and larger than what I thought and I think it is good value for money. It provides the reader with an insight into the photographer's life and gives the book a very intimate feel. Not all the pictures are flattering to Ms Leibovitz and her relatives and seeing these ordinary photos of people not looking at their best makes you feel as if you are looking at people that you also know. An interesting mix of photos of celebrities and everyday people is presented.

One point of critisizm - why do they print a good photo over two pages and then cut it in half by the page break? A good picture deserves to be printed on one page so as to see it as a whole.

1 out of 5 stars A Celebration of Ugly and I Don't Care.......2007-09-01

This book is perfect for today's society and culture.

Page after page I couldn't help thinking that Ms. Liebowitz was getting back at everyone because God made her so unattractive. It seems it runs in the family -- the photo of her sisters would frighten a scarecrow. Her parents look like fools, the photos of Sontag are disrespectful, and even Brad Pitt is at his worst. Ugly, ugly, ugly...

Yes the world is cruel and not everyone nor everything can be beautiful... it is merely that this book is blatantly defensive.

2 out of 5 stars Well ... is exactly like the title says ..........2007-08-26

... no more no less.
Do not expect to see more than an "allowed invasion" on her life in B&W.
Self promotion, just it. But who didn't, right?
If you can take some lessons "through her personal eyes", good for you.
I believe from everything you can take something good.
Henri Cartier-Bresson: Scrapbook
Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • An essential book
  • Process of Selection
  • a dissapointment
  • Excellent buy
Henri Cartier-Bresson: Scrapbook
Michel Frizot
Manufacturer: Thames & Hudson
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 050054333X

Book Description

Henri Cartier-Bresson's famous scrapbook from the 1940s, published in its entirety for the first time.

Henri Cartier-Bresson was taken prisoner by the Germans in 1940. After two unsuccessful attempts, he managed to escape in 1943. During this period, the Museum of Modern Art in New York, assuming that the photographer had died in the war, started preparing what they thought would be a posthumous exhibition of his work. When he reappeared, Cartier-Bresson was delighted to learn of the exhibition and decided to review his entire oeuvre and curate it himself.

In 1946 Cartier-Bresson traveled to New York with about 300 prints in his suitcase, bought a scrapbook, glued in the photos, and brought that album to MoMA's curators. His exhibition there, a celebration of his survival, opened on February 4, 1947.

In the 1990s, Cartier-Bresson once again turned his attention to this scrapbook. Following his death in 2004, the Fondation Henri Cartier-Bresson, the present owner of the prints, finished the job of restoring them, making it possible to bring a large body of his extraordinary work to the public, images that have now become a memorial collection after all.

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars An essential book.......2007-07-14

For a photographer, one of the few necessary books. HCB enacted a miracle in the 1930s w/his Leica, and here's the record of how this genius did it--a record that makes his accomplishment seem only that much more extraordinary. I think the printing of the book could have been a shade better, but that's mere grousing. If you want to understand late 20th-century photography, start here.

5 out of 5 stars Process of Selection.......2007-07-02

I have liked HCB for about six years. I first saw his picture where a man, caught in mid-air,jumps across a puddle. I still think that this is one of the best photographs ever made.
In the scrapbook, the reader gets to see the many different shots, that made up the bundle from which one image got selected to be published.
While quite a few of the images not selected have their own charm, the finally published image does usually stand. A great look behind the scene of HCB photos, but also a great visual retrospective of his life.
Excellent book with superbly printed photographs.

3 out of 5 stars a dissapointment.......2007-06-12

Most photos are much smaller than a full page - I returned this book.

5 out of 5 stars Excellent buy.......2007-05-28

One of the most profound books to come out from such an eminent photographer. Long due and much awaited. You can never get tired of looking at his work.
In Vogue: The Illustrated History of the World's Most Famous Fashion Magazine
Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • A Taste of Owners' Plans, Editorial Direction, Style, Fashion, Great Photography, and Memorable Models
  • Just OK.
  • Magnificient overview of an iconic magazine
  • A travel through time by book
  • InVogue: The Illustrated History of the World's most famous fashion magazine
In Vogue: The Illustrated History of the World's Most Famous Fashion Magazine
Alberto Oliva , and Norberto Angeletti
Manufacturer: Rizzoli
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0847828646
Release Date: 2006-09-22

Book Description

In Vogue is a fascinating look at the history of the world's most influential magazine. The complete compendium is illustrated with hundreds of covers and archival interiors of past Vogue editions, featuring the work of some of the twentieth century's most respected artists, cover illustrators, and photographers—from Edward Steichen, Toni Frissell, and Erwin Blumenfeld to Irving Penn, Richard Avedon, David Bailey, Helmut Newton, Annie Leibovitz, Mario Testino, Steven Klein, Bruce Webber, and Herb Ritts. In 1909, an entrepreneurial New Yorker named Condé Nast took charge of a struggling society journal and transformed it into the most glamorous fashion magazine of the twentieth century. In Vogue traces the history, development and influence of this media colossus—from its beginning as a social gazette in the late nineteenth century, to the exploration of modern fashion photography and new visuals in the mid-twentieth century, to its status as the top style magazine today. The book explains the makings of the magazine—from runways, to editorial meetings, to the pages of Vogue.The thoroughly researched story incorporates first-person accounts, interviews with editors and photographers, and excerpts from stories written in the magazine by many world-renowned writers, including Truman Capote, Aldous Huxley, Richard Burton, Federico Fellini, and Marcello Mastroianni. Unparalleled in its scope and exceptionally illustrated, In Vogue is sure to be among the most important publications on the subjects of culture, art, fashion, photography, and media.

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars A Taste of Owners' Plans, Editorial Direction, Style, Fashion, Great Photography, and Memorable Models.......2007-07-16

What attracts you to Vogue? Chances are that element is represented someplace within the pages of In Vogue.

To me, the photographs are the main appeal of Vogue. Since its founding on December 17, 1892, Vogue has attempted to capture current and future fashion through its images. The magazine has been blessed by talented work done by most of the world's best fashion photographers since then who brought us the most interesting society women, celebrities, cultural icons, and, of course, fashion models. I was pleasantly surprised to see that the book contained at least a few works by each of the greatest photographers to appear in Vogue. Most of the images were known to me, but a number were new. My main disappointment was that the photographers I like the most didn't have more photographs in the book. But the book is very bulky and heavy as it is.

To my interest in the photographs came many essays about why the photographers were selected and what the editors asked them to accomplish. The interaction of the art directors and the photographers was particularly noteworthy in regard to covers.

I have also spent many years as a management consultant in the magazine industry. I was pleasantly surprised to find that there's a pretty complete overview of the management thinking and decisions that led to Vogue becoming so successful.

But the most interesting surprise came in the extended views into the editorial philosophies and working styles of the magazine's editors. Creating a fashion magazine is very demanding, and Vogue has been fortunate in its editors both for their energy and their vision for the reader.

If neither business nor editing interest you, you'll still find lots of marvelous images to help you trace the development of fashion and style in the United States over the last 100 plus years.

Here are a few of my favorite photographs in the book:

Helen Lee Worthing by Baron Adolphe de Meyer, September 1, 1920 (p. 61)

White by Edward Steichen, January 1, 1936 (p. 67)

Mademoiselle Koopman by George Hoyningen-Huene, September 15, 1933 (p. 69)

Mary Taylor by Cecil Beaton, May 15, 1935 (p. 73)

Lisa Fonssagrives by Horst P. Horst, August 1, 1938 (p. 76)

Decor by Horst P. Horst, March 15, 1938 (p. 77)

Corset by Horst P. Horst, September 15, 1939 (p. 78)

Coco Chanel by Horst P. Horst, February 15, 1954 (p. 79)

Cover by Horst P. Horst, September 15, 1940 (p. 89)

Loretta Young by John Rawlings (p. 111)

Twelve Beauties by Irving Penn, 1947 (pp. 116-117)

Cover by Horst P. Horst, May 15, 1941 (p. 131)

Cafe Society by Cecil Beaton, 1948 (pp. 136-137)

Concentration Camp by Lee Miller, June 1945 (p. 143)

Jean Pachett by Irving Penn, February 15, 1949 (p. 144)

Atelier of Pablo Picasso, November 1, 1956 (pp. 156-157)

Twiggy by Richard Avedon, July 1967 cover (p. 172)

Marisa Berenson by Berry Berenson, 1969 (p. 179)

Marisa Berenson by Irving Penn, April 1970 (pp. 186-187)

Lauren Hutton by Richard Avedon, January 1, 1969 (pp. 198-199)

Celebrity covers, 1965-1971 (p. 202)

Cheryl Tiegs and Rene Russo by Helmut Newton, 1974 (p. 215)

Cybill Shepherd by Helmut Newton, 1973 cover, (p. 216)

Kim Basinger by Irving Penn, September 1978 (p. 217)

Beverly Johnson by Albert Watson, October 1977 (pp. 218-219)

Charlotte Rampling by Helmut Newton, 1974 (p. 221)

Eveningwear by Arthur Elgort, 1978 (p. 222-223)

Lisa Taylor by Arthur Elgort, October 1976 (pp. 228-229)

The Right Moment by Arthur Elgort (p. 230)

Lisa Taylor by Helmut Newton, May 1975 (p. 233)

Winnie by Helmut Newton, 1976 (p. 234)

Daryl Hannah by Helmut Newton, 1984 (p. 235)

Bathhouse by Deborah Turbeville, May 1975 (pp. 236-237)

Satin and Leather by Peter Lindbergh, September 1991 (pp. 252-253)

Color and Opulence by Peter Lindbergh, October 1997 (pp. 254-255)

Tribute by Annie Leibovitz, November 1999 Cover (pp. 272-273)

Linda Evangelista by Steven Meisel, September 2001 (p. 274)

Shape by Annie Leibovitz and Patrick Demarchelier, April 2002 (p. 278)

Lisa Cant by Irving Penn, September 2005 (p. 283)

Cindy Crawford by Helmut Newton, December 1991 (p. 287)

Haute Couture by Irving Penn, December 1995 (p. 292-293)

Epic Proportions by Irving Penn, April 2004 (p. 297)

Swimsuits by Mario Testino, May 2000 (pp. 298-299)

Portrait of a Lady by Steven Meisel, March 1995 (p. 307)

Mad About You by Steven Meisel, October 2003 (p. 313)

Naomi Campbell by Herb Ritts, May 1996 (pp. 314-315)

Barbarian Chic by Arthur Elgort (p. 325)

Near Bora Bora by Patrick Demarchelier, December 2004 (p. 330)

Golden Girl by Annie Leibovitz, April 2006 (pp. 345-346)

Condoleeza Rice by Annie Leibovitz, December 2001 (pp. 358-359)

Kate Moss by Irving Penn, September 1996 (pp. 368-369)

Hillary Clinton by Annie Leibovitz, December 1998 (p. 372)

Nicole Kidman by various photographers, September 2003 (pp. 378-379)

Models and Supermodels by Steven Meisel, September 2004 (pp. 380-381)

Ben Stiller and Stella Tennant by Annie Leibovitz, October 2001 (pp. 388-389)

Mario Testino, April 2006 (pp. 392-393)

Take a close look!

3 out of 5 stars Just OK........2007-06-28

I liked the information and photos about the early Vogue, and wish there was more of it. I was not so interested in the later stuff, as it seemed overly self-important. Instead of presenting fashion, the current Vogue seems to commision special clothes for its photo shoots. What's the point if you can't buy that? Plus the photos don't even show what the clothes look like. I have better books on fashion, but this really was about the history of the magazine, and as such it succeeds. I just don't happen to like the magazine as it never shows anything I'd want to wear.

5 out of 5 stars Magnificient overview of an iconic magazine.......2007-06-22

Ten gets you one that when you ask someone to name a fashion magazine, the first answer you get will be, "Vogue". That's how much of an institution the magazine has become. While "Elle" and "Women's Wear Daily" might dispute the contention, "Vogue" seems to have become the periodical of record for worldwide haute couture. As such, as the authors note in their introduction, a basic history is past due. With a great deal of help from the Vogue staff itself - Anna Wintour, the magazine's longtime editor (and so prominent a figure in her own right that Meryl Streep's spoof of her in last year's movie "The Devil Wears Prada" was instantly recognizable), is prominent in the list of contributors - Angeletti and Oliva, magazine historians both, have assembled an informative text and a gorgeous array of imagery which effectively covers the century-plus history of Vogue, from the cover of the very first magazine to the latest photos of Nicole Kidman. The book is certainly a highly display-worthy item, as another reviewer has suggested, but more than that, it's meant to be leafed through and read. You can find it brand-new at a wide variety of prices, but even if all the Amazon Marketplace sellers were somehow sold out of their copies, it'd still be worth the list price!

5 out of 5 stars A travel through time by book.......2007-05-14

The authors of In Vogue composed a diversified chronicle of the appearance and the development of Vogue from 1892 until today. The photographs chosen portray the history of fashion photography wonderfully, each of them either a ravishing new sight or a spectacular recognition. The structuring by Decade, introduction of publishers, contributing editors, photographers, etc interposed by special contributions and excerpts of resumes offers the reader a diverting journey trough publishing history in general and the publishing of fashion in particular.

5 out of 5 stars InVogue: The Illustrated History of the World's most famous fashion magazine.......2007-03-28

great extensive fashion history on Vogue magazine: superb pictures, designers, models....
Merce Cunningham: Fifty Years
Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
  • Merce Cunningham:Fifty Years
Merce Cunningham: Fifty Years
David Vaughan , and Merce Cunningham
Manufacturer: Aperture
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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  5. No Fixed Points: Dance in the Twentieth Century No Fixed Points: Dance in the Twentieth Century

ASIN: 0893816248
Release Date: 2005-06-15

Amazon.com

Unlike so many biographies of dance maestros, Merce Cunningham: Fifty Years offers no litany of substance or psychological abuse. The volume, assembled by the archivist of Merce Cunningham's world-renowned U.S. company, records and analyzes Cunningham's work process and documents the provenance of his modern dance classics. Heavily spiced with biographical detail, Merce Cunningham packages the choreographer's life story in a lovely design that respects his whole body and conveys a rare sense of movement in its mass of still photos.

Book Description

Merce Cunningham celebrates the career of one of the most important artists of the twentieth century, from his first innovative and explosive solo dances to the present. This unique book incorporates images of performances by many world-renowned photographers, including Imogen Cunningham, Barbara Morgan, Annie Leibovitz, Peter Hujar, and Arnold Eagle.

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars Merce Cunningham:Fifty Years.......2000-08-02

An excellent resource. Insightful. Beautiful pictures. Highly recommend for folks in dance education, collaborative artists, school teachers, dancers, and children.
The Photographer's Eye
Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • John Szarkowski
  • Quality Control Issues
  • The Photographer's Eye
The Photographer's Eye
John Szarkowski
Manufacturer: The Museum of Modern Art, New York
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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  2. Mastering Digital Black and White: A Photographer's Guide to High Quality Black-and-White Imaging and Printing (Digital Process and Print) Mastering Digital Black and White: A Photographer's Guide to High Quality Black-and-White Imaging and Printing (Digital Process and Print)
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ASIN: 087070527X
Release Date: 2007-03-01

Book Description

The Photographer's Eye by John Szarkowski is a twentieth-century classic--an indispensable introduction to the visual language of photography. Based on a landmark exhibition at The Museum of Modern Art in 1964, and originally published in 1966, the book has long been out of print. It is now available again to a new generation of photographers and lovers of photography in this duotone printing that closely follows the original. Szarkowski's compact text eloquently complements skillfully selected and sequenced groupings of 172 photographs drawn from the entire history and range of the medium. Celebrated works by such masters as Cartier-Bresson, Evans, Steichen, Strand, and Weston are juxtaposed with vernacular documents and even amateur snapshots to analyze the fundamental challenges and opportunities that all photographers have faced. Szarkowski, the legendary curator who worked at the Museum from 1962 to 1991, has published many influential books. But none more radically and succinctly demonstrates why--as U.S. News & World Report put it in 1990--"whether Americans know it or not," his thinking about photography "has become our thinking about photography."

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars John Szarkowski.......2007-07-23

When John Szarkowski recently passed away at the age of 81, the world lost one of photography's most important figures. He was the "Stieglitz" of the 1960s and 70s, changing the way audiences look at photographic images and he shaped the way future audiences will come to appreciate the pioneering work of Arbus, Eggleston, Friedlander and Winogrand. When he took over the reins of curator of photography at the Museum of Modern Art in New York from Edward Steichen, photography's early twentieth century grand master, Szarkowski promoted a "new" photography that incorporated the everyday moment as it was unfolding on the streets around cities and towns across America.

His great gift to all of us who love photography besides his championing of new talent, was his incredible skill at writing texts, essays, criticism, books on photography. With his talent as a writer, and his background as a photographer, he was able to open a window onto this two-dimensional world of form and tone, shape, texture and composition, explaining the ins and outs, the subtleties, and the intuitions of image makers, their techniques and their medium in all its finesse.

Having simply tried to take a good photograph all his life, he simply knew a good photograph when he saw one. It is what made him such a great curator. His own best known books of photographs, "The Idea of Louis Sullivan" published in 1956, contains photographs of the architecture of Chicago, and his other, "The Face of Minnesota" published in 1958, contains haunting landscape images of his home state. He wrote the way he carefully crafted his own images. He framed each paragraph paying close attention to his ear, to diction and to all the elements of style. It is why I love to read him and why I think he was the greatest writer to take on this visual art form.

Two books of his about photography that in my opinion are indispensable are "The Photographer's Eye" first published in 1966, and "Looking at Photographs" first published in 1973. With these two collections, the reader will gain an historic appreciation of photography from its earliest innovators beginning in the 1830s to the period of high modernism in the 1970s. With Szarkowski as your guide, readers will appreciate how the medium advanced, yet they will also understand how it has remained fundamentally the same picture-making process when it comes to handling two-dimensional space.

In The Photographer's Eye, Szarkowski covers what a viewer needs to take in from a photograph, how it was framed, cropped, what the subject is, what the detail is, the focus and the vantage point. In each of these wide areas, he supplies important photographs from the Museum of Modern Art's vast collection that illustrate these points. He begins with "The Thing Itself" the "what" of photography, the landscape or still life, or portrait that the photographer has aimed his camera at. From there he moves on to how photographers fix on detail, the synechdocal "parts" that make up the "whole" and that produce visual metaphor: the close up of the hands, the side of a face, a rifle, a window, a headlight of a car, a door latch.

He then illustrates how photographers carefully frame their images, how they crop, how they envision the image from its interior picture plane to what is left out, alluded to, outside the frame. And finally, he shows how photographers measure time; freeze moments, single out the present for the past of some distant future. Added to this element of time is vantage, that trick of where to place the picture plane in terms of its perspective, foreground to background, its recession to a vanishing point or points, whether it is head-on and flat, or deep and endless, looming up or slanting down, the world from above, or the world from below.

In Looking at Photographs which is subtitled--"100 Pictures from the Collection of the Museum of Modern Art," Szarkowski leads the reader across time, from the earliest best works of the 19th century masters: Timothy O'Sullivan, Fredrick Evans, Lewis Hine, and Jacob Riis, all the way to Robert Frank, Roy DeCarava, Paul Caponigro, and Joel Meyerowitz.

The book is printed so that there is a one-page essay facing each of the 100 photographs it describes. Within that compact structure, Szarkowski is able to move from one idea to another across the history of photography as the reader turns the pages, and he is able to pinpoint for the reader, the attributes that each photographer brings to his medium. In this way the reader learns to read images for their wealth of craft, form and subject matter. It is like having the curator take you on a personal guided tour of the museum's photography galleries.

I learned from reading this book that Timothy O'Sullivan's "white skies" were a result of the wet plate's over-sensitivity to blue light and that "sky areas were thus automatically overexposed, and rendered as blank white." I also learned that O'Sullivan "...accepted the white sky and used it as a shape, enclosed in tension between the picture's visual horizon and the edges of the plate." Knowing this, I can never look at O'Sullivan's work again without understanding how much this 19th century photographic pioneer wanted the figure-ground relationship of sky to land to feature in his compositions. And this is only one example from the book. There are 99 more.

Owning "Looking at Photographs" and "The Photographer's Eye" is like having your own private collection of the world's most famous photographs. The way you look at photographs will be enriched. On your next visit to a gallery or a museum, you will be able to see so much more thanks to the intelligent and thoughtful writing of John Szarkowski. His precise, clear and uncluttered prose style will make your reading experience a pleasure in itself.

3 out of 5 stars Quality Control Issues.......2007-06-09

Great content in general, but the fact that several pages are presented upside down on my copy marred it for me.

5 out of 5 stars The Photographer's Eye.......2006-03-01

SOME OF THE PHOTOGRAPHERS: Abbot Bravo Atget Avedon Belloc Brady Brandt Brassai Callahan Cameron Caponigro Cadtier-Bresson Coburn Decarava Doisneau Cuncan Erwitt Evans Fenton Frank Friedlander Garnett Giacomelli Kertesz Lange Lartigue Laughlin Lyon Moholy-Nagy Muybridge,P>Negre Newman O'sullivan Penn Sander Sheeler Siskind Smith Steichen Strand Weston White WinograndThis book is an investigation of what photographs look like, and of why they look that way. It is concerned with photographic style and with photographic tradition: with the sense of possibilities that a photographer today takes to his work. A wonderful black and white study of the form of photography and covers photographic style and tradition with a beautiful collection of some of the world's most famous photographic images.

SZARKOWSKI'S CAREER AT MOMA is bookended by two of his most ambitious and influential exhibitions, The Photographer's Eye (1964) and Photography until Now (1989-90). These shows, along with the accompanying volumes of criticism, summarize Szarkowski's major concerns as an historian and theorist of photography and demonstrate his impact on the field.

THE PHOTOGRAPHER'S EYE introduced the then-radical notion that artistic merit could be located not only in the work of the avowed masters-Stieglitz, Steichen, the WPA group--but also in news photographs, magazine spreads, commercial work, and anonymous documentary photography. The exhibition juxtaposed, without comment, Cartier-Bresson's masterpiece "Children Playing in Ruins" with a street scene taken outside a Stillwater, Minnesota barber shop. The work of contemporary giant Lee Friedlander rubbed elbows unashamedly with a 1910 bedroom interior plucked from the Iconographic Collection of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin. In the companion book, published in 1966, Szarkowski asserts that the pictures in the exhibition "have in fact little in common except their success, and a shared vocabulary: these pictures are unmistakably photographs. The vision they share belongs to no school or aesthetic theory, but to photography itself." -Christopher Sieving
Bodies and Souls: The Century Project
Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
  • Bodies and Souls, The Century Project
  • Incredible! Powerful! Life-Affirming!
  • For my daughter
  • bodies and souls: the century project
  • Reality
Bodies and Souls: The Century Project
Frank Cordelle
Manufacturer: Heureka Productions
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0973027037
Release Date: 2006-11-17

Book Description

Viewed in exhibitions by over 100,000 people across the continent--now a book! Frank Cordelle'ss work is an inspiring series of nude photographic portraits accompanied by personal statements. The subjects are more than 90 girls and women aged 0 to nearly 100 and of very diverse shapes, sizes, and conditions. They also write powerfully about their bodies and experiences.

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars Bodies and Souls, The Century Project.......2007-09-27

It's hard to call this a book, as it is an experience of a lifetime.
If everyone would openly talk, violence would be drastically reduced. I am sorry to the brave women in this book who were harmed by someone's violence. The wowen are a testimony to courage. Frank's courage, as well, for following his heart and soul. As, art it is a monumental master peice. A must experience for all those who have suffered from hiding, secrets, and sexual violation.

5 out of 5 stars Incredible! Powerful! Life-Affirming!.......2007-07-19

This is an incredibly powerful book I wish everyone could own. My 15 year old daughter and I read it together and it the experience was unforgettable! The photographs paired with the real, raw stories of these girls, young women and women opened up a dialog between my daughter and I that could not have happened in any other setting. This book looks at bodies and the lives behind them with a sense of dignity and truth that you rarely find.
Some images and stories may be disturbing and/or inappropriate for younger children, but for me this book was a powerful way to see body image in a healthy light for me and my daughter.

5 out of 5 stars For my daughter.......2007-07-19

I bought it for my 14 year old daughter who at first thought it was 'yucky' but later appreciated the stories that accompanied the photos. Great job of using pictures to paint the story of challenges that so many women continue to overcome.

5 out of 5 stars bodies and souls: the century project.......2007-06-30

The powerful images and stories in this book are empowering and educational. This book is an antidote to the media-generated myths surrounding women's bodies, depicting the truth, instead of fabrication. These are real people and real stories. I recommend it highly to anyone's mother, daughter or sister.

5 out of 5 stars Reality.......2007-05-15

Frank Cordelle's " The Century Project" is a remarkable work of female nudity and perception,concept and composition.It's a revelation of humanity.
One Man's Wilderness: An Alaskan Odyssey
Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • True to the man
  • A modern day "Thoreau"
  • Just as Good the Second Time
  • Homesteading in Alaska
  • inspiring
One Man's Wilderness: An Alaskan Odyssey
Sam Keith , and Richard Proenneke
Manufacturer: Alaska Northwest Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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  5. More Readings From One Man's Wilderness: The Journals of Richard L. Proenneke, 1974-1980 More Readings From One Man's Wilderness: The Journals of Richard L. Proenneke, 1974-1980

ASIN: 0882405136

Book Description

To live in a pristine land . . . roam the wilderness . . . build a home. . . . Thousands have had such dreams, but Richard Proenneke lived them. Here is a tribute to a man who carved his masterpiece out of the beyond.

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars True to the man.......2007-09-29

Ten years ago I spent a summer volunteering for the National Park Service at Lake Clark National Park and Preserve, in Alaska. My remote rangers cabin was located at Twin Lakes. Being on the lower lake, I was about 9 miles from my nearest neighbor- Dick. We spoke daily on our walkie-talkies, checking in about the weather, any visitors, or interesting wildlife viewings. I trekked up his way several times over the summer, and enjoyed a few meals with him. I can't remember if it's in his book, but his favorite sandwich was the "Twin Lakes Special": sourdough flapjaks, raw onion, and honey; don't knock it 'til ya try it! Just like his book, he was a gracious, thoughtful man, a true naturalist. Also the most spry 82-year-old I think I'd ever seen! I was saddened to hear of his death several years ago, and was grateful the NPS kept his cabin as a historical site; it is a cozy place, dark inside, smelling faintly of woodsmoke and 1948 sourdough starter, with wonderful decorative touches throughout. Dick was truly a special person, and this book captures his voice, his no-nonsense manner of talking, as well as his appreciation of the beauty of the natural world, perfectly.

5 out of 5 stars A modern day "Thoreau".......2007-09-16

You cannot visit Alaska without reading this book FIRST! Just the photography alone will make you want to go. I dentify in many ways with Dick as I lived in a cabin in the White Mountains of NH for many years. He didn't intrude on nature...he simply lived in harmony with it. He appeals to all of your senses in his simple but beautifully written words, never mind the pictures. He is definitely portrayed as a "loner" but that is a good thing..for a loner has much higher self esteem and sense of character than those who can't survive in the world without people around them all the time. Dick is a true steward of the land because of his deep, abiding love and connection for this piece of God's Creation. His beautifully chronicled life in Alaska will remind you of Robert Frost's words.."We love the things we love for what they are." Enjoy!

5 out of 5 stars Just as Good the Second Time.......2007-09-12

I was telling my husband about this book as I started reading it. He said, "Don't you remember, we read that many years ago when Alaska Magazine published it"? I knew that Babe, the pilot, seemed familiar. It didn't matter. I was happy to read it a second time which is unusual for me. Oh, how I would have loved to have been able to do what Mr. Proenneke did and to live where he lived. There is nothing dull about this book and I suspect the people who find it dull haven't any interest in living in the wilderness without Blackberries, i-pods, automobiles and restaurants.

Even though most of us who enjoyed the book probably don't begin to have the skills that Richard Proenneke had which made what he did possible (and a pilot friend who delivered for free) I think we all wish we could do what he did. I know I do. I didn't realize that a sequel exists. It costs big bucks, but if it's anything close to as interesting as this book, it's worth it. Maybe I'll find out if the Mission Girls ever showed-up.

5 out of 5 stars Homesteading in Alaska.......2007-08-16

The year was 1968. The setting, the Alaskan bush. The mission, to live simply, deliberately, and self-sufficiently off the land, free of the trappings of contemporary society. The protagonist, clearly not what you might expect given the era. He was not some young, free spirited hippie, luddite, or draft dodger. Rather, he was a skilled hard working machinist/woodsman, who at age 51 decided to permanently leave the rat race behind.

Why this man, Dick Prenacke, suddenly left behind his conventional existence to live in a remote and unforgiving section of Alaska is never fully explored in the book. While snippets do reveal his distain for modernity, it never fully embellishes on what ultimately drove the author to do what few would ever conceive of doing. Perhaps Dick realized that at 51, the physical and physiological fortitude required to make such a transition would soon be out of his reach. More likely however, he foresaw the end of an era. No more than a few years after his departure into the wild, Alaska would enact laws prohibiting trappers and homesteaders from freely trudging off into the woods to live the quintessential "Alaskan experience." Soon Alaska would become like the rest of the lower 48, where people like Dick would be considered trespassers and evicted from any land that they did not rightfully own. Fortunately for the author, the laws were grand fathered in.

While the book is essentially a personal account of Alaskan homesteading, the author episodically weaves social commentary into his writings. He laments a society that is wasteful and superficial. The hunters that come into his Alaska, products of such a society, leave garbage and animal meat behind, unaware that the author cleans up after as well as makes use of their squander.

The author also reveals his anxiety for a society that is increasingly consumed by materialism. He feels that man is entrapped by things that he doesn't need and he seeks to avoid the superfluous at all costs. To the outsider, surviving in the wilds of Alaska would seem to require an extravagant amount of equipment and gear. One can only imagine the bill the average suburbanite would amass at the local REI in preparation for such an endeavor. Yet the author demonstrates just how little is required to not only to survive but also to prosper in such an inhospitable region.

The book closes with some thoughts on technology, and the rapidity of change that comes with it. The author's words are both haunting and prescient as he elaborates on his first year in Alaska and how his experience conflicts greatly with society at large.




5 out of 5 stars inspiring.......2007-07-14

Inspiring book. Diarist was over 50 when he began this journey. Helps me look to the future for myself.
August Sander: People of the 20th Century (7 Volume Set)
Average customer rating: Not rated
    August Sander: People of the 20th Century (7 Volume Set)
    Susanne Lange , and Gabriele Conrath-Scholl
    Manufacturer: Harry N. Abrams
    ProductGroup: Book
    Binding: Hardcover

    Collections, Catalogues & ExhibitionsCollections, Catalogues & Exhibitions | Photography | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
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    ASIN: 0810963981

    Book Description

    Revered as a father of modern photography, August Sander (1876- 1964) so refined the art of portraiture that his moving images of his fellow countrymen have been heralded both as an important sociological document and a photographic masterpiece. But those images make up only a portion of this deluxe seven-volume set, which will stand as the definitive collection of Sander's considerable achievement.

    The books include some 150 never-before-seen images and essays by leading experts on the German photographer's work. Praising Sander's "vision . . . his knowledge, and his immense photographic talent," the writer Alfred Döblin said: "Those who know how to look will learn from his clear and powerful photographs, and will discover more about themselves and more about others."

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