Category Archives: Books

Books Every Serious Photographer Must Have

The best books on photography (regularly updated) One of the consequences of my interest in photography is that I acquire and read too many photography books. I hope to develop this site as a resource for other photographers seeking out … Continue reading

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A Genuine Delight

The Ongoing Moment – Geoff Dyer, Vintage Press I read a lot of books about photography, but there are very few that I would call delightful. But, that’s a pretty good description of Geoff Dyer’s “The Ongoing Moment.” The book … Continue reading

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Forget the Analysis and Just Read Camera Lucida

Camera Lucida, Roland Barthes I doubt if any book about photography has been more thoroughly dissected than Camera Lucida. I have no illusion that I can add anything significant to the body of work on this small volume. It is … Continue reading

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Is Robert Adams the finest writer on photography?

Beauty in Photography, Robert Adams, Aperture The measure of a great essay is that after one reads it, there is simply nothing more to say. That is my reaction to Robert Adams’ Beauty in Photography. I have read it and … Continue reading

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Camera Lucida: A Preview

Okay, I’ve said I really needed to read Roland Barthes’ Camera Lucida. Happy to report that I not only finished it, but also waded through Photography Degree Zero, a series of essays on the book and then, to finish things up … Continue reading

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Errol Morris, Sabrina Harman and Gaddafi

It was just a coincidence that I had just finished reading “Believing is Seeing” by filmmaker Errol Morris when the uprising in Libya came to its climax with the killing of Col. Muammar Gaddafi. Morris devotes a significant portion of his … Continue reading

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Genius of Photography on You Tube

The BBC has apparently posted a recent television series “The Genius of Photography” on You Tube. Each episode appears to be split into four parts.  This is the first part of Episode One. I’ll post more when I get a … Continue reading

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Camera Lucida in The Guardian

I’ve had Roland Barthes’ Camera Lucida on my list of books to read for quite some time. This article by Brian Dillon in the Guardian makes me think I need to move it up in the queue. “…what Barthes had … Continue reading

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Reinhold Marxhausen and Seeing

Something recently got me thinking about Reinhold Marxhausen and how he helped teach me to see. Marxhausen was an artist and photographer who spent most of his professional life as a professor at Concordia College in Seward, Nebraska. In the … Continue reading

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Well, this is a little different

I don’t think I’ve ever seen this before. Somebody flipping through the pages of a new book, “For Now” by William Eggleston. Here’s a description from the publisher, Twin Palms: “For Now is the result of film-maker Michael Almereyda’s year-long … Continue reading

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