Reading Recommendations?
I'm between books. One of the perks of living in NYC is my 45 min of uninterrupted reading time on the subway each morning and evening. About 50% of what I read is photo history and theory, but I'm at an impasse on what to pick up next. (Mean ing I'm too lazy to go beyond my Amazon recommendations.) So I throw it out to you guys - what should I pick up next? Leave your suggestions in the comments and I'll post the best of the lot next week. Here's a partial list of what I've already got under my belt:
Classic Essays on Photography - Trachtenberg
Photography: A Critical Introduction - Wells
Regarding the Pain of Others - Sontag
Overexposed - Squires
Crisis of the Real - Grundberg
Looking at Photographs - Baldwin
Criticizing Photographs- Barrett
Camera Lucida - Barthes
On Photography - Sontag
Seizing the Light - Hirsch
Beauty in Photography - Adams
Why People Photograph - Adams
i've read about half of these and have a couple more of them on the rotation to-be-read. of those that i've absorbed, the one that continues to be relevant and resonant with me is the barthes. his writing is so clear, concise and lyrical that for all its sentimentality it is difficult to dismiss. i'd be interested in your take on either sontag book--it seems that she has the uncanny ability to piss me off. i'm interested if she has that effect more on photographers or art critics; i remember thinking that she wrote with substanceless authority on the process of image making and the psychology of image makers...i would be intrigued by your impressions.
i suggest "river of shadows" by rebecca solnit. this is a great book on muybridge.
i read "On Photography" a few years back and it had a powerful effect of me in a positive way. She seemed to shatter a lot of photographic cliches i think. i'd need to do a re-read in order to remember more.
if i may go off your list:
john berger's another way of telling is one of the most rewarding reads/looks i've ever had.
Great List.
I'd suggest adding John Szarkowski's "Looking at Photographs".
And, if you like any of his work, Vik Muniz's new book, "Reflex: A Vik Muniz Primer." He has some great insites on visual perception, and how photgraphic art interacts with the viewer.
The Ongoing Moment by Geoff Dyer
An American Exodus
Cruel and Tender
Arresting Images
Joan Didion
Rose is a Rose is a Rose
New York Times Magazine
Autobiography by Helmut Newton
What by Ron Silliman
I found "The photograph as contemporary art" by Charlotte Cotton is a good train book. You can jump in and out. Just enough about alot to set off on some good web surfing at lunch.
Give "The Photography Reader" edited by Liz wells a shot. It's a nice collection of works.
just two more author that definitely deserve lots of attention:
Towards a Philosophy of Photography by Vilem Flusser
Geoffrey Batchen:
Forget Me Not: Photography and Remembrance
Burning with Desire: The Conception of Photography
Each Wild Idea: Writing, Photography, History
I would add:
Veronica's Revenge - Elizabeth Janus
Photography after photography - GB+ Arts