Book picks similar to
Long Life Cool White: Photographs and Essays by Moyra Davey
art
photography
essays
non-fiction
Helmut Newton: Sumo
Helmut Newton - 1999
Helmut Newton (1920–2004) always demonstrated a healthy disdain for easy or predictable solutions. SUMO—a bold and unprecedented publishing venture—was an irresistible project. The idea of a spectacular compendium of images, a book with the dimensions of a private exhibition, reproduced to exceptional page size and to state-of-the-art origination and printing standards, emerged from an open, exploratory dialogue between photographer and publisher.With the physically commanding SUMO weighing in—boxed and shrink-wrapped—at 35.4 kilos, Newton created a landmark book that stood head and shoulders above anything previously attempted, either in terms of conceptual extravagance or technical specifications. Published in an edition of 10,000 signed and numbered copies, SUMO sold out soon after publication and quickly multiplied its value. This worldwide publishing sensation now features in numerous important collections around the world, including New York's Museum of Modern Art. Legendary SUMO copy number one, autographed by over 100 of the book's featured celebrities, also broke the record for the most expensive book published in the 20th century, selling at auction in Berlin on April 6, 2000 for 620,000 German Marks – approximately $430,000.Now, 10 years after the original publication, SUMO is back in a more economical edition, but one with the same DNA as its unique progenitor.SUMO established new standards for the art monograph genre, and secured a prominent place in photo-book history. This new edition is the fulfillment of an ambition conceived some years ago by Helmut Newton. He would surely be pleased that, a decade on from its first publication, SUMO—now in a format that allows for a more democratic distribution—will reach the widest possible audience.
However, proud owners of the new edition won't wrestle with their copy of SUMO. It comes with a unique stand for displaying the book at home:
Los Alamos
William Eggleston - 2003
--"Andy Grundberg"~The world is so visually complicated that the word "banal" scarcely is very intelligent to use. All days are similar, no matter what part of this planet we're in. --"William Eggleston"
This Water Goes North
Dennis Weidemann - 2008
With leaky tents, little experience, and no TV cameras or big-time sponsors, the lads set out in 1979 to paddle 1,400 miles north to Hudson Bay. Why? Why not! Driven by a youthful sense of adventure, they took the chance of a lifetime just to see what lay around the next turn. Sit in their canoe as they glide through smooth waters and survive rushing rivers. Experience with them the desolation of true wilderness and go on humorous escapades with local characters. With graceful storytelling, Dennis Weidemann weaves this richly diverse tale of near disasters, splendid sunsets, bootleggers, Mounties, polar bears, and the indomitable spirit of youth. Share the dream that still lives, and that will surely inspire others.
Tim Hetherington: Infidel
Tim Hetherington - 2010
platoon, assigned to an outpost in the Korengal Valley--an area considered one of the most dangerous Afghan postings in the war against the Taliban--but it is as much about love and male vulnerability as it is about bravery and war. Embedded with writer Sebastian Junger, and shooting over the course of one year, photographer Tim Hetherington made a series of images that prove surprisingly tender in their depiction of camaraderie and vulnerability (among the most moving is a series of the platoon sleeping). Alongside revealing interviews with Hetherington's subjects and an introduction by Junger (with whom Hetherington co-directed the award-winning film Restrepo, about the work of the battalion), the book is also illustrated with graphics of the tattoos the soldiers gave each other in the camp. The title Infidel is taken from the tattoo the men adopted as a badge of their comradeship. Warm, moving and full of humor, this book is a tribute to the "rough men ready to do violence on our behalf" and a provocative contribution to the documentation of war in our time.Tim Hetherington was born in Liverpool, U.K., and took up photojournalism after studying literature at Oxford University. Five years spent living in Liberia resulted in the book Long Story Bit By Bit: Liberia Retold (2009), and awards for his photojournalism include World Press Photo of the Year 2007 (for his dramatic war photography from Afghanistan), the Rory Peck Award for Features (2008) and an Alfred I duPont Award for excellence in broadcast journalism while on assignment with Sebastian Junger for ABC News (2009). As a filmmaker, he has worked as both a cameraman and director/producer. Restrepo won the Grand Jury Prize at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival. He is based in New York and is a contributing photographer for Vanity Fair magazine.
The Principles of Uncertainty
Maira Kalman - 2007
Part personal narrative, part documentary, part travelogue, part chapbook, and all Kalman, these brilliant, whimsical paintings, ideas, and images - which initially appear random - ultimately form an intricately interconnected worldview, an idiosyncratic inner monologue.
Pantsuit Nation
Libby Chamberlain - 2017
In October 2016, Maine resident Libby Chamberlain created a secret Facebook group encouraging a handful of friends to wear pantsuits to the polls. Overnight, the group of thirty exploded to 24,000 members. By November 8th, the group was three-million strong. Since Pantsuit Nation's inception, its members have shared personal stories that illustrate the complexities of living in a vibrant, oftentimes contentious democracy. Members turn to Pantsuit Nation as a place of refuge and inspiration, where marginalized voices are amplified, faces are put to political decisions, resources are shared, and activism is ignited. It is a dynamic, diverse community united by an unwavering commitment to building a more just, inclusive world.Now, hundreds of Pantsuit Nation members have contributed their stories and photographs to form this extraordinary book. An indelible testament to the idea that change comes first from the heart, and that the surest way to move a heart is to tell a story, Pantsuit Nation is a portrait of a moment in history and a rallying cry for our time.
All about Saul Leiter
Saul Leiter - 2017
This collection takes a Japanese perspective into the secrets of his appeal, from his life philosophy and lyricism to masterful colors and compositions reminiscent of ukiyo-e. Some two hundred works—including early street photographs, images for advertising, nudes, and paintings—cover Leiter’s career from the 1940s onward, accompanied by quotations from the artist himself that express his singular worldview. Saul Leiter was born in 1923 in Pittsburgh. He pioneered a painterly approach to color photography in the 1940s and produced covers for fashion magazines such as Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar before largely withdrawing from public attention in the 1980s. The publication of his first collection, Early Color, by Steidl in 2006 inspired an avid “rediscovery” that has since led to worldwide exhibitions and the release of a documentary, In No Great Hurry: 13 Lessons in Life with Saul Leiter (2014). He died in New York in 2013.size: 210 × 148 × 28 mmbinding: softcoverlanguage: english/japanese
Swimming Studies
Leanne Shapton - 2012
From her training for the Olympic trials as a teenager to enjoying pools and beaches around the world as an adult, Leanne Shapton offers a fascinating glimpse into the private, often solitary, realm of swimming. Her spare and elegant writing reveals an intimate narrative of suburban adolescence, spent underwater in a discipline that continues to inspire Shapton's work as an artist and author. Her illustrations throughout the book offer an intuitive perspective on the landscapes and imagery of the sport. Shapton's emphasis is on the smaller moments of athletic pursuit rather than its triumphs. For the accomplished athlete, aspiring amateur, or habitual practicer, this remarkable work of written and visual sketches propels the reader through a beautifully personal and universally appealing exercise in reflection.
Nikon D3100 for Dummies
Julie Adair King - 2010
Say you?re already an experienced photographer? The helpful tips and tricks in this friendly book will get you quickly up to speed on the D3100's new 14-megapixel sensor, continous video/live focus, full HD video, expanded autofocus, and more. As a seasoned instructor at the Palm Beach Photographic Center, Julie anticipates all questions, whether you?re a beginner or digital camera pro, and offers pages of easy-to-follow advice.Helps you get every bit of functionality out of the new Nikon D3100 camera Walks you through its exciting new features, including the 14-megapixel sensor, continous video/live focus, full HD video, expanded autofocus, and the updated in-camera menu Explores shooting in Auto mode, managing playback options, and basic troubleshooting Explains how to adjust the camera's manual settings for your own preferred exposure, lighting, focus, and color style Covers digital photo housekeeping tips?how to organize, edit, and share your files Tap all the tools in this hot new DSLR camera and start taking some great pix with Nikon D3100 For Dummies.
We're Desperate: The Punk Rock Photography of Jim Jocoy, SF/LA 1978-1980
Jim Jocoy - 2002
It developed concurrently everywhere, and every region had it's own identity. But it was in San Francisco and L.A. where the most radical behavior in stateside punk rock style and attitude was exhibited. It was anti-hippie, anti-disco, anti-parent and anti-"nice". And it was shockingly new. These photos are ground zero of punk rock style—delirious innovation and a snarling takeover of youth culture still resonating more than 20 years hence.
Portraits
Steve McCurry - 1999
In 1985, he photographed an Afghan girl for the National Geographic. The intensity of the subject's eyes and her compelling gaze made this one of the most widely and consistently celebrated portraits in the history of contemporary photography.This accompanies the other remarkable faces he has encountered whilst travelling throughout the world, collected together in an engaging and strangely moving series of unique street portraits: unposed, unstylized images of people that reveal the true universality of the depths of human emotion.Critically acclaimed and recognized internationally for his classic reportage, over the last twenty years he has worked on numerous assignments, travelling extensively throughout the Middle and Far East.McCurry has won first prize in the World Press Awards, and was named Magazine Photographer of the Year in 1984. He is most famous for his evocative color photography, which has captured stories of human experience that, in the finest documentary tradition, transcend boundaries of language and culture.
The Moth
The Moth Radio Hour
Fifty true stories told on The Moth Radio Hour.
How to Be Hap-Hap-Happy Like Me!
Merrill Markoe - 1994
"By reading my book, you can become happier without ever having to leave the comfort and security of your own private hell," she writes. In How to Be Hap-Hap-Happy Like Me, Merrill Markoe has undertaken the arduous task of actually carrying out the best "how to be happy" suggestions from the wisest of all possible sources of advice, the "365 Days to a Happier Life" Desk Calendar. So abandon the pursuit of happiness, sit back, and "extend a social invitation to someone you've always been afraid to approach," and share Merrill's unforgettable dinner with Fabio; "take the time to improve your knowledge of another period of history," while dining with Merrill at the Medieval Times Dinner and Tournament Restaurant franchise ("where the year is 1093 A.D. and you are the guests of the royal castle"); "plan a party and invite the people you care about," in which you watch Merrill answer the door in her pajamas and pretend the party was yesterday; "enroll in a class or lecture that interests you," accompanying Merrill to a session of Dominatrix 101 at the Learning Annex. Where else can you discover the beauty secrets of someone who is not so genetically perfect that her advice is completely useless, or "How to Please a Man Every Time and Have Him Okay Maybe Not Beg for More but at Least Not Demand a Whole Lot Less"? Markoe is that rare soul who will unselfishly share with you these and many other secrets of how to live a not-totally-nightmarish life. And even if you don't learn anything, this book will make you laugh, which is more happiness than you can get from most desk calendars.
American Prospects
Joel Sternfeld - 1987
Finally, photography and offset printing techniques have caught up with Sternfeld's eye, and this new edition of American Prospects succeeds in presenting Sternfeld's most seminal work as it has always meant to be shown. A specially-commissioned essay by Kerry Brougher, Chief Curator at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, considers the historical context in which Sternfeld was working and the pivotal role that American Prospects has played in the course of contemporary filmmaking and art photography. In American Prospects, a fireman shops for a pumpkin while a house burns in the background; a group of motorcyclists stop at the side of the road to take in a stunning, placid view of Bear Lake, Utah; the high-tech world headquarters of the Manville Corporation sits in picturesque Colorado, obscured by a defiant boulder; a lone basketball net stands in the desert near Lake Powell in Arizona; and a cookie-cutter suburban housing settlement rests squarely amongst rolling hills in Pendleton, Oregon. Sternfeld's photographic tour of America is a search for the truth of a country not just as it exists in a particular era but as it is in its ever-evolving essence. It is a sad poem, but also a funny and generous one, recognizing endurance, poignant beauty, and determination within its sometimes tense, often ironic juxtapositions of man and nature, technology and ruin.
A Short Book About Art
Dana Arnold - 2015
Introducing art in its international context, this accessible book explores core issues about how art is made, interpreted, and displayed, without any of the unnecessary terminology. Divided into themes, A Short Book About Art presents new ways of thinking about the relationship between artists and their work, as well as fresh comparisons between works of art from different periods and places. Thought-provoking and stimulating, it is the ideal companion for anyone who wants to learn about art without a dictionary in their hands.