COMPILED BY CHRISTOPHER M c CALL SCULPTURES BY LIBBY BLACK ESSAY BY VINCE ALETTI
ROBERT ADAMS
As someone who has never had much access to great museums, books have been crucial. The ten on the list were important early (for a variety of reasons), and remain so.
a n S el a dam S and nancy ne WH all
This Is the American Earth
Sierra Club Books, San Francisco, 1960
g eorge p . elliott
Dorothea Lange
Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1966
l aura g ilpin
The Enduring Navaho University of Texas Press, Austin, 1968
Judit H m ara g utman
Lewis W. Hine and the American Social Conscience Walker, New York, 1967
beaumont ne WH all
Frederick H. Evans: Photographer of the Majesty, Light, and Space of the Medieval Cathedrals of England and France
Aperture, Millerton, New York, 1973
edWard Steic H en The Family of Man
Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1955
JoH n SzarkoWS ki
The Face of Minnesota University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, 1958
JoH n SzarkoWS ki
The Photographer’s Eye Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1966
JoH n SzarkoWS ki
Looking at Photographs Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1973
JoH n SzarkoWS ki and m aria morri S Hambourg
The Work of Atget (Volumes I–IV) Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1981–85
DAWOUD BEY
I could of course add others, but these are ten books I encountered early on that were important to me, and that I looked at continually.
r ic H ard avedon In the American West
Amon Carter Museum, Fort Worth, Texas, 1985
a . d . c oleman
Light Readings: A Photography Critic’s Writings, 1968–1978
Oxford University Press, New York, 1979
Joe c raWF ord and beu F ord Smit H The Black Photographers Annual Black Photographers Annual, Brooklyn, 1973
r oy de c arava and l ang S ton Hug H e S The Sweet Flypaper of Life
Jim g oldberg Rich and Poor Random House, New York, 1985
paul Hill and tHoma S c ooper Dialogue with Photography Farrar, Straus and Giroux, New York, 1979
nat H an lyon S , editor
Photographers on Photography: A Critical Anthology
Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, and George Eastman House, Rochester, New York, 1966
nancy ne WH all, editor The Daybooks of Edward Weston
George Eastman House, Rochester, New York, 1961–66
augu S t Sander
Antlitz der Zeit (The Face of Our Time) Transmare Verlag / Kurt Wolff Verlag, Munich, 1929
MELISSA CATANESE
In the vast expanse of photography books these days, Utatane remains a perennial favorite for me, serving both as a source of pleasure and as inspiration for my students. This modest-sized softbound book, whose title translates to Nap, continues to enchant me with its blend of playful juxtapositions, subtle hues, elliptical narrative, and repetitive motifs. Through Kawauchi’s lens, ordinary moments are transmuted into luminous poetry, offering glimpses of joy and lust for life amid the encroaching anxieties of our times.
tacita dean FLOH
Steidl, Göttingen, Germany, 2001
bertrand Fleuret Landmasses and Railways
J&L Books, Atlanta and New York, 2009
l ee Friedlander Factory Valleys: Ohio and Pennsylvania
Callaway Editions, New York, 1982
m a S a H i S a Fuka S e Karasu (Ravens)
Sokyu-sha, Yokohama, Japan, 1986
paul g ra H am a shimmer of possibility
SteidlMACK, Göttingen, Germany, 2007
g regory Halpern A
J&L Books, Atlanta and New York, 2011
cH auncey Hare Protest Photographs
Steidl, Göttingen, Germany, and Steven Kasher Gallery, New York, 2009
taka SH i Homma Mushrooms from the Forest Blind Gallery, Tokyo, 2011
r on Jude Alpine Star
A-Jump Books, Ithaca, New York, 2006
r inko k aWauc H i Utatane (Nap)
Little More, Tokyo, 2001
m ĂĄrten l ange Another Language
MACK, London, 2012
l ar S t unb J örk Vinter (Winter)
Steidl, Göttingen, Germany, and Moderna Museet, Stockholm, 2007
Tengo casi 500 años: Africa’s Legacy in Mexico, Central and South America
(I Am Almost 500 Years Old: Africa’s Legacy in Mexico, Central and South America)
Light Work, Syracuse, New York, 2002
e arlie Hudnall Jr.
Earlie Hudnall Jr.: Drawn to Communities
Art League Houston, Houston, 2022
b aldW in l ee
Baldwin Lee
Hunters Point Press, Brooklyn, 2022
S H ala m iller
Tender Noted
Wendy’s Subway, Brooklyn, 2022
a lan p ogue
Witness for Justice: The Documentary Photographs of Alan Pogue
University of Texas Press, Austin, 2007
PAUL GRAHAM
I thought about this on and off for some weeks, and realized I wanted to make a British/UK list—books that most people won’t know, but should. Some are from the 1980s, some more recent. Many of these talented photographers still haven’t got the great book they deserve— that the work deserves. Oh, and one yet to be published.
r ic H ard billing H am
Ray’s a Laugh
Scalo, Zurich, 1996
JoH n davie S The British Landscape
Chris Boot, London, 2006
Julian g ermain
For every minute you are angry you lose sixty seconds of happiness
SteidlMACK, Göttingen, Germany, 2005
cH ri S killip In Flagrante
Secker & Warburg, London, 1988
g ra H am Smit H
The book that we are waiting for.
Jem Sout H am
The Red River Cornerhouse, Manchester, England, 1989
david Spero
Churches
SteidlMACK, Göttingen, Germany, 2007
vane SS a Win SH ip she dances on Jackson MACK, London, 2013
t om Wood All Zones Off Peak
Dewi Lewis, Stockport, England, 1998
d onovan Wylie
British Watchtowers
Steidl, Göttingen, Germany, 2007
GRACIELA ITURBIDE
There are many books that fascinate me, but I would never end to list them. These are the closest to the spirit of my work.
diane a rbu S
Diane Arbus: An Aperture Monograph
Aperture, Millerton, New York, 1972
e . J. bellocq
Storyville Portraits: Photographs from the New Orleans Red-Light District, circa 1912
Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1970
bill brandt
Bill Brandt, Behind the Camera: Photographs, 1928–1983
