Published to huge critical acclaim to support the major BBC television series on this ever more influential art form, this landmark book explores the key events and the key images that have marked the development of photography.
Photographs of Marilyn Monroe taken by members of the collective, Magnum Photos.
Exploring the multifaceted nature of photography, this book delves into the complex emotions evoked by viewing images. It highlights how the experience can be transformative yet unsettling, revealing that true pleasure often comes with darker undertones. The text examines the enriching yet potentially dangerous aspects of photography, inviting readers to reflect on the deeper implications of visual representation. Through this lens, it challenges the notion of pure pleasure, emphasizing the intricate relationship between joy and discomfort in the art of photography.
Yutaka Takanashi's Toshi-e (Towards the City) is a significant work from a key figure in the avant-garde Japanese magazine Provoke. Known for its grainy, blurry black-and-white aesthetic, Takanashi's images starkly contrast with his earlier, more optimistic Tokyoites series. The photographs depict landscapes from skewed angles, evoking a sense of motion, as if captured from a speeding vehicle heading "towards the city." Published in 1974, this volume is noted for its luxurious presentation and a brooding tone that reflects the contemporary state of an unnamed city in Japan, amidst significant economic and industrial changes. This sixth installment in Errata's Books on Books series includes all 116 black-and-white photographs and features an essay by British photographer and writer Gerry Badger. Errata Editions aims to make rare and out-of-print photography books accessible to students and enthusiasts, presenting complete studies of original works rather than mere facsimiles. Each volume offers the full content of the original book, along with a new essay, production notes about its creation, and biographical and bibliographical details about the artist. This series spans a range of photographic practices, facilitating deeper exploration of these important works of art.
While the history of photography is well-established, the photobook has received less critical attention, despite being a vital medium for photographers to showcase their work and communicate their vision. This first volume, co-edited by Martin Parr and Gerry Badger, offers a comprehensive overview of the photobook's evolution, tracing its origins from the early nineteenth century to the innovative Japanese photobooks of the 1960s and 70s, including modernist and propaganda works from the 1930s and 40s. Badger's introduction emphasizes the significance of the photobook as a photographic genre, challenging the traditional view that photography's history is best represented by original prints. This study corrects the conventional narrative by presenting a selection of photographers that redefines the popular canon, revealing a complex web of influences among global photographers and movements. Organized into thematic and chronological chapters, the book includes introductory texts that provide context and highlight political and artistic influences, followed by detailed discussions of individual photobooks. Accompanying these texts are images from over 200 essential photobooks, showcasing their artistic and cultural significance. Volume One also features Badger's insightful introduction, ‘The Photobook: Between the Film and the Novel,’ alongside a preface by Parr.
Eugene Atget (1857-1927) took over 10,000 photographs of the trades, architecture and street scenes of Paris and its surroundings. Atget modestly called his images 'documents for artists'. Yet since his death, his reputation has grown into that of one of the world's pre-eminent photographers. Other artists in this series Mathew Brady, Wynn Bullock, Julia Margaret Cameron, Joan Fontcuberta, David Goldblatt, Nan Goldin, Graciela Iturbide, Andre Kertesz, Dorothea Lange, Mary Ellen Mark, Joel Meyerowitz, Boris Mikhailov, Lisette Model, Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, Eadweard Muybridge, Eugene Richards, W. Eugene Smith, Shomei Tomatsu, Joel-Peter Witkin