"Best" Brett Weston book -

[Scott Peters]

I recently checked out Brett Weston's book Hawaii from the local library. Beautiful images and well done I might add. This has gotten me interested in picking up one of Brett's books. Which ones do you like and why>? I have been interested in Brett Weston - Personal Selection; or Master Photographer, or Hawaii (perhaps Dunes?). What are APUG users thoughts? I have only seen the Hawaii in person.
Thanks!

[reellis67]

I've only seen 'Brett Weston: Photographs from Five Decades' and it's fairly good. The reproductions are not as good as I had hoped, but there were some interesting selections. The damned thing goes for a fortune though (I have a copy in front of me right now thanks to Interlibrary Loan.)

- Randy

[Jon Shiu]

Brett Weston Master Photographer is one of my favorite photography books. The books have some overlap in the images selected. I like the ones in Master Photographer the best.

Jon

[Bill Hahn]

...and like it very much. Had the opportunity to see one of his prints at a museum
a couple of years ago ("Century Plant"), and loved the deep, deep blacks. Some of
the pictures in "Personal Selection" remind me of Aaron Siskind's abstracts....there I go,
comparing pictures to pictures again...

[doughowk]

Voyage of the Eye is a good book - though he later wished the poetry hadn't been included. The Lodima series, though, is becoming my favorite collection of his images. Also don't forget the DVD by Art Wright.

[skillian]

I own them all and I think the best is "Master Photographer". It's well printed, has the most reproductions and wonderful essays from people like his ex-wife Dody. If you're a real fan, the Lodima series has the best reproductions of his portfolios. Now that his estate has been settled, I hope we'll be seeing more books on Brett. The downside to most of the books already out there is that they keep publishing the same images. Brett was perhaps the most prolific photographer of all time so it would be refreshing to see books published that dive deeper in his body of work. Also agree with Doug - the DVD by Art Wright is highly recommended.

[c6h6o3]

If you're a real fan, the Lodima series has the best reproductions of his portfolios.

My favorite reproduction from the White Sands Portfolio (Plate 14, if memory serves me well) is an enlargement made from a negative he shot with his Rollieflex. Oh irony, how you mock me!

[Scott Peters]

Can you still buy the white sands book as a single? And how do the lodima images stack up to the photographic west images? I though the photographic west publication was pretty outstanding on the Hawaii book.

[skillian]

The Lodima books come as limited hardbound and softbound versions - I know softbound are still availailble but am not sure on hardbound. The quality is unmatched by any other publisher. They're fanatical. These books are printed using 600 line screen quad tones which is simply unheard of in the publishing business.

[c6h6o3]

And how do the lodima images stack up to the photographic west images?

More to the point: how do they stack up against Brett Weston's original photographs?

I can't see the screen under an 8x loupe. You could cut out the images, dry mount them, frame them and hang them on your wall and I'll wager not one person in a thousand could tell that it wasn't an original print.