The Photobook Thread

Alex Benjamin · Aug 30, 2023

logan2z said:
That's insane - both the book prices ($271 for GOOD condition??) and the shipping cost to you from Tennessee. I can fly one-way from Tennessee (Nashville) to Montreal on American Airlines for $240

Right. People who say Japanese eBay used camera sellers tend to overprice should take a look at the used photo book market before complaining...

Alex Benjamin · Aug 30, 2023

Here are the only two copies of Valparaiso I could find on biblio.com...

I'm still hoping the captain of the La Paloma will drop a copy at my office after being shot at by Wilmer...

albireo · Aug 31, 2023

Does anyone have pointers on where to get ahold of the work by Henry Wessel Jr at reasonable prices?

I only have Waikiki by him and I'm eager to find out more about his neo-topographic work, but everything seems out of print?

Alex Benjamin · Aug 31, 2023

albireo said:
Does anyone have pointers on where to get ahold of the work by Henry Wessel Jr at reasonable prices?

I only have Waikiki by him and I'm eager to find out more about his neo-topographic work, but everything seems out of print?

Interesting photographer. Hadn't heard of him before—thanks for the discovery.

Apart from Waikiki, his other books indeed are out of print, though Steidl lists two books, Hichhike and Walkabout / Man Alone / Botanical Census as "Not yet published," so there's some hope there. They don't give a publishing date, though.

Amazon is certainly not the place to find reasonably priced copies of his other books...

albireo · Aug 31, 2023

Alex Benjamin said:
Interesting photographer. Hadn't heard of him before—thanks for the discovery.

NP. Nice obituary by the NYT

Henry Wessel, Whose Lens Captured Life in the West, Is Dead at 76 (Published 2018)

He was a New Jersey native enthralled by California. “The light had such physical presence; it looked as though you could lean against it,” he said.

www.nytimes.com

logan2z · Aug 31, 2023

albireo said:
Does anyone have pointers on where to get ahold of the work by Henry Wessel Jr at reasonable prices?

I only have Waikiki by him and I'm eager to find out more about his neo-topographic work, but everything seems out of print?

Henry Wessel Documentary Style and Beyond is still available from Artbook at the original price of $45:

Henry Wessel: Documentary Style and Beyond - ARTBOOK

www.artbook.com

I don't have that book but do have a couple of Wessel books published by Steidl which are now OOP: Incidents and Traffic/Sunset Park/Continental Divide. As @Alex Benjamin mentioned, Steidl has plans to publish a couple of new Wessel books. Those are supposed to be released in February.

albireo · Aug 31, 2023

logan2z said:
Henry Wessel Documentary Style and Beyond is still available from Artbook at the original price of $45:

Henry Wessel: Documentary Style and Beyond - ARTBOOK

www.artbook.com

I don't have that book but do have a couple of Wessel books published by Steidl which are now OOP: Incidents and Traffic/Sunset Park/Continental Divide. As @Alex Benjamin mentioned, Steidl has plans to publish a couple of new Wessel books. Those are supposed to be released in February.

Thank you.

Going back to "American Prospects". It is here, on my lap. Absolutely stunning work. Makes me want to take a sabbatical and do a 6 months long road trip through the United States.

For those in the know, I'm assuming this work was done on 8x10 LF?

Alex Benjamin · Aug 31, 2023

albireo said:
For those in the know, I'm assuming this work was done on 8x10 LF?

Yes. From his website:

“Joel Sternfeld travelled the country for around eight years with a 8x10 view camera and colour film, a sojourn that produced his first and best-known book, American Prospects... The particular quality brought by Sternfeld to the 8x10 colour-landscape aesthetic... is a clear sense of narrative... In American Prospects, each picture suggests an arcane drama being played out—an elephant stranded on a road in Oregon, or a pumpkin stall in Virginia behind which a house burns fiercely. These narrative hints are suggestive, sly, often ironic, frequently mysterious, making American Prospects less a series of photographs than a series of tales—unfinished, elliptical certainly—that add up to a cogent and persuasive view of America...” (Parr/Badger, The Photobook).

American Prospects — Joel Sternfeld

Times Books in association with The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston 128 pages | 31 x 26 cm Hardback / Clothbound 05/1987 ISBN 978-0-81291-659-1

www.joelsternfeld.net

Alex Benjamin · Aug 31, 2023

Taschen is having its annual sale. Is it me, or are they getting much less love than other photo book publishers? If so, why is that? Too much glam (hello Helmut Newton)?Too little editorial coherence—Salgado's Amazonia right next to The Big Butt Book?

I only have two in my collection, Salgado's Africa—which I never open—and the James Baldwin/Steve Shapiro collaboration on The Fire Next Time. I've been tempted by a couple of others, such as the Lewis W. Hine America at Work, and Peter Linbergh's Untold Stories, but not much more.

Patrick Robert James · Aug 31, 2023

albireo said:
Does anyone have pointers on where to get ahold of the work by Henry Wessel Jr at reasonable prices?

I only have Waikiki by him and I'm eager to find out more about his neo-topographic work, but everything seems out of print?

If you can find a copy, Night Walk by Wessel is excellent.

Patrick Robert James · Sep 1, 2023

Whoever said Taschen was having a sale, I curse you! Lol. Oh well. It is only money.

Looks like Steidl is going to publish some more Wessel books next year. I'll have to try to not sleep on those.

MTGseattle · Sep 1, 2023

My copy of "American Prospects" is a bit worn and haggard, and I have it oriented spine up due to the odd size.

I don't want to derail the thread, but any idea what film stocks Winogrand used? I bet Kodachrome was one for sure.

I feel like Taschen is just too big. Kind of like Phaidon. Basic covers and bindings with dust jackets. I'd wager that throughout each of their back catalogues there are titles I would buy.

There was a Michael Kenna book signing at a local gallery last weekend. My wallet took a hit. His work is meditative for me. He also does almost all of his own printing still which I admire. I got them both signed.

Rouge: Michael Kenna

Rouge: Michael Kenna as Hardcover with reading sample ✔ Now discover and order at Prestel Publishing.

prestelpublishing.penguinrandomhouse.de

MTGseattle · Sep 1, 2023

I retract my Taschen statement. They have a "Case Study houses" book that I've been after for a while.

logan2z · Sep 1, 2023

MTGseattle said:
I don't want to derail the thread, but any idea what film stocks Winogrand used? I bet Kodachrome was one for sure.

My understanding is that he shot Trii-X for black and white and Kodachrome for color.

logan2z · Sep 1, 2023

RRB Photobooks is having a sale too. Some good stuff there...

https://www.rrbphotobooks.com/

Alex Benjamin · Sep 3, 2023

Going back quite often these days to Danny Lyon's Memories of Myself, and cannot state strongly enough how fantastic a book it is and how great and immensely inspiring a photographer he is. The profond engagement of W. Eugene Smith with the free, improvisational spirit of Robert Frank rolled into one.

logan2z · Sep 3, 2023

Alex Benjamin said:
Going back quite often these days to Danny Lyon's Memories of Myself, and cannot state strongly enough how fantastic a book it is and how great and immensely inspiring a photographer he is. The profond engagement of W. Eugene Smith with the free, improvisational spirit of Robert Frank rolled into one.

I'm a big fan of Lyon's work. The only book of his that I currently have is the retrospective book Message to the Future (signed by Lyon). I'm probably going to grab the Phaidon reissue of Conversations with the Dead shortly.

bjorke · Sep 3, 2023

Today's thrift store treasures!

Alex Benjamin · Sep 3, 2023

bjorke said:
Today's thrift store treasures!

View attachment 348147

Nice catch!

Let me know what you think of American Witness. I started it, but didn't get very far, finding it poorly structured and a bit tedious. A different opinion might make me give it a second chance.

Speaking of bios, on Friday I received Shadow & Substance, Jim Hughes' biography of W. Eugene Smith.

Alex Benjamin · Sep 3, 2023

logan2z said:
RRB Photobooks is having a sale too. Some good stuff there...

https://www.rrbphotobooks.com/

Krass Clement's Belfast is very tempting...

Patrick Robert James · Sep 4, 2023

bjorke said:
Today's thrift store treasures!

View attachment 348147

Nice Bjorke.

There was a Goodwill bookstore here until the pandemic closed it. They are about to open a new one though. Can't wait. I've snagged a lot of good books there over the years and they used to have them for 3 or 4 bucks.

MTGseattle · Sep 14, 2023

I was trying to figure out which of my photo books was my first. I think "Cyc;lops" by Albert Watson is the snowball that started the avalanche.

GregY · Sep 14, 2023

I recently bought this book Alpine Legacy, from a fine mountain photographer Thomas Crauwels, who makes efforts to photograph alpine peaks and ridges in stormy weather and impressive long-lens views.

GregY · Sep 14, 2023

I'll also mention this award-winning book The Climbers

by my friend Jim Herrington. It is a monumental book of portraits of old & famous climbers.

logan2z · Sep 14, 2023

MTGseattle said:
I was trying to figure out which of my photo books was my first. I think "Cyc;lops" by Albert Watson is the snowball that started the avalanche.

One of the first photo books I bought was Tim Carpenter's Local Objects. Not a super well-known photographer, but his work was an early influence on my photography. Unfortunately, the book is OOP and seems to have skyrocketed in price.

The Photobook Thread

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