Photo-book
A photo-book or photobook is a book in which photographs make a significant contribution to the overall content. The most critically acclaimed photo-books celebrate the creative work of an individual photographer, but can also result from the collaboration between a photographer and a writer, an editor, a publisher or a designer.
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[edit] Early photo-books
Early photo-books are characterised by their use of photographic printing as part of their reprographic technology. Photographic prints were tipped-in rather than printed directly onto the same paper stock used for letterpress printed text. Many early titles were printed in very small editions and were released as partworks to a network of well-informed and privileged readers. Few original examples of these books survive today, due to their vulnerability to light and damage caused by frequent handling.
What is arguably the first photo-book, Photographs of British Algae: Cyanotype Impressions (1843–53) was created by Anna Atkins. The book was released as a partwork to assist the scientific community in the identification of marine specimens. The non-silver cyanotype printing process worked by pressing actual specimens in contact with light-sensitive paper; hence the word "impression" in the book's title.[1]
The Pencil of Nature (1844–46) was produced by William Henry Fox Talbot, who had invented of the Calotype photographic process in 1839. Although significant as the first negative/positive photography process, the Calotype was also envisioned as a commercial prospect for the reproduction of images in books through mass publication. Anticipating commercial success, Fox Talbot established purpose-made printing premises in Reading to carry out the reproduction of his book. The Pencil of Nature was released in six parts between 1844 and 1846, to an initially promising list of private subscribers whose numbers dwindled, causing the premature termination of his project.[2]
Julia Margaret Cameron created the first photo-book to illustrate a literary work. The 1874 edition of Tennyson's Idylls of the King contained twelve Cameron images that had been specially created, but reproduced as wood engravings. Cameron sought her own publisher, creating a new version of Idylls of the King, containing her original photographs as albumen prints, which came out in December of the same year.[3]
[edit] Japanese photo-books
Photographers such as Shinzō Fukuhara were producing photography books in the 1920s. The postwar years brought low-priced photography books, such as the many volumes of Iwanami Shashin Bunko. From the 1950s onward, most Japanese photographers of note have had photo-books published.
However, the simplest Japanese translation of photo-book is shashinshū (写真集), and the shashinshū section of a typical Japanese bookstore is full of books of photographs of little or no documentary or artistic merit but which instead conventionally portray currently popular celebs. Many are of cheesecake models (guradoru), or porn starlets (nūdoru); others are of singers, television personalities, professional sportswomen (often wrestlers) and so forth.
[edit] Personalized photo-books
Storing digital images in traditional photo albums means printed copies are inserted in the pages of an album. With personalized photo-books, a real book with its own images and texts can be created. The resulting book is printed on digital color printers and case bound. Some examples of personalized photo-books can be found via search engine.
Professional printing and binding services offer for easy creation of photo-books with professional layouts and individual layout capabilities. Because of the integrated design and order workflow, hardcover bound books with customized pictures and text can be produced very cost-effectively.
[edit] Publication dates of some photo-books
- 1928 – Die Welt ist Schön by Albert Renger-Patzsch
- 1930 – Atget Photographe de Paris by Eugene Atget
- 1931 – Face of the Times by August Sander
- 1933 – Paris de Nuit by Brassaï
- 1936 – The English at Home by Bill Brandt
- 1937 – You Have Seen Their Faces by Margaret Bourke-White
- 1938 – American Photographs by Walker Evans
- 1939 – An American Exodus by Dorothea Lange
- 1939 – Changing New York by Bernice Abbott
- 1941 – Let Us Now Praise Famous Men by Walker Evans and James Agee
- 1945 – Naked City by Weegee
- 1952 – The Decisive Moment by Henri Cartier Bresson
- 1955 – The Sweet Flypaper of Life by Roy Decarava and Langston Hughes
- 1959 – The Americans by Robert Frank
- 1959 – Jazz by Ed van der Elsken
- 1961 – Perspective of Nudes by Bill Brandt
- 1964 – The End of the Game by Peter Beard
- 1964 – A Way of Seeing by Helen Levitt
- 1966 – Many Are Called by Walker Evans
- 1966 – Every Building on Sunset Strip by Ed Ruscha
- 1968 – The Bikeriders by Danny Lyon
- 1969 – The Animals by Garry Winogrand
- 1970 – Anonyme Skulpturen by Bernd and Hilla Becher
- 1970 – East 100th St by Bruce Davidson
- 1970 – Self Portrait by Lee Friedlander
- 1970 – Diary of a Century by Jacques-Henri Lartigue
- 1971 – Tulsa by Larry Clark
- 1982 – A Loud Song by Danny Seymour
- 1972 – Diane Arbus by Diane Arbus
- 1973 – Suburbia by Bill Owens
- 1974 – The New West by Robert Adams
- 1974 – The New Industrial Parks Near Irvine California by Lewis Baltz
- 1976 – William Eggleston’s Guide by William Eggleston
- 1976 – The American Monument by Lee Friedlander
- 1976 – Carnival Strippers by Susan Meiselas
- 1977 – Evidence by Mike Mandel and Larry Sultan
- 1979 – Lisette Model by Lisette Model
- 1983 – The Lines of My Hand by Robert Frank
- 1985 – Rich and Poor by Jim Goldberg
- 1986 – The Ballad of Sexual Dependency by Nan Goldin
- 1986 – O Rio de Janeiro by Bruce Weber
- 1986 – The Last Resort by Martin Parr
[edit] Notes
- ^ Parr and Badger, The Photo-book, 1:14, 20–21.
- ^ Parr and Badger, The Photo-book, 1:13–15, 22.
- ^ Parr and Badger, The Photo-book, 1:69.
[edit] References
- Parr, Martin, and Gerry Badger. The Photobook: A History. London: Phaidon.
- Vol 1. 2004. ISBN 0714842850
- Vol 2. 2006. ISBN 0714844330
[edit] External links
- TopTenReviews Comparison of photo-book services.
- [1] Coffee Table Photo Books
