Sunday, May 13, 2007

The Nature of Photographs - mini book review


Spotted this wonderful book this morning. "The Nature of Photographs" by Stephen Shore, subtitled "A Primer".

The reproductions of photographs is fantastic in this high quality publication from Phaidon. Works are by the author and many others including Robert Frank, Walker Evans, Cindy Sherman, Lee Friedlander, André Kertész, William Eggleston, Garry Winogrand, Bernice Abbott, Dorothea Lange, Alfred Stieglitz, Diane Arbus, Eugene Atget, and even the great John Szarkowski is in there.

Well structured and simply stated, this book has given me a good structure for appreciating photographs. Packed with insights that in retrospect seem obvious. For example, the artist starts with a blank page and must fill it, the photographer starts with the clutter of the world and must simplify it.

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