How Many Photo Books Do You Own?

[bjorke]

(Posted in response to the "how many cameras" thread -- which has come and gone abut three times IIRC)

How Many Photo Books Do You Own?

With this distinction: books on technique are not photo books.

I'd say I have about 10 books on technique and three shelves of photo books -- so about 150.



Ignoring the piles of magazines, for now.

[david b]

Somewhere around 50.

[goldie]

I have approx 40.
Some favourites are

Diane Arbus - Revelations (I love 'behind the scenes' stuff - proof sheets, alternate prints etc)

Michael Lesy - Angel's World (about Angelo Rizzuto, a loner who practiced a type of street photography in 1950s NY. Included a shot of himself in his boarding house room on each roll)

Josef Koudelka - publ by Fototorst (small format 6.5" x 7.5" book that covers all his great photos. Excellent print quality & easily available, unlike most of his books)

Mark Cohen - Grim Street

Danny Lyon - The Bikeriders & Destruction of Lower Manhattan.

Photo book I would most like to own - 1964 by Gary Winogrand. I love the cover photo but this book is rare & expensive.

[Robert Hall]

50 easy. My favorites are about the peccadilloes noted from followers of said people.

[photomc]

40-50 would be a good guess, favorites would be those with local/regional story to share - Keith Carter, Winogrand, June Van Cleef, Paula Chamlee, Laura Wilson. Just ordered a Tillman Crane today.

[Moopheus]

I have three--100 Suns by Michael Light (restored documentary photos from the years of above ground nuclear testing); American Ground Zero by Carole Gallagher (documenting the people who lived with the fallout); and Ansel Adams at 100 (a gift).

[ajmiller]

Just counted 53 on my creaking bookshelf. My favourites are
Raymond Moore - 'Murmurs At Every Turn' and 'Every so Often'.
Walker Evans - 'First and Last'
Charles Pratt - 'Photographs'

- Tony

[Curt]

40 or more, I got a copy of Dune just today, it was inexpensive and in new condition, I don't know why I waited so long to get it. I have more on the way.

[sun of sand]

Probably only a few that would meet your requirements
My favorite book dedicated to photographs is American Photographers and The National Parks
Handbook of Photography by Henney and Dudley which is a text so it doesn't count. Mint 1939 second printing. My only real technique book, though.
Golf: Great Courses of the World which is a book of the best courses worldwide. photos by jean-francois lefevre
What the Traveler Saw. Great book. half photo book.
I pick up old Life magazines and those Eyewitness to History types
Santa Monica Bay: the first 100 years. pictorial history
THE MOTORING CENTURY. The Story of the Royal Automobile Club
1897-1997. Pictorial history. Nice book to look through.
Niagara on the Lake. pictorial type
The Coral Sea by Patti Smith. Handful of photos by Mapplethorpe. She was his first model and friend

I pick up books that contain photographs rather than set out to pick up artist books
I take books out of Rundell Library all the time for that

I have many art books.

[smieglitz]

108 at home and maybe another 10-15 at school. Then about 50 more technical books scattered about.

Favorites are by Veruschka, Robert Maxwell, Francesca Woodman, Sheila Metznor, and several Pictorialists (e.g., Brigman, Eugene, Seeley, White, Steichen, etc.).