On Photographs by David Campany

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The summary on Amazon.com reads:

An exploration of photography in 120 photographs.

In On Photographs, curator and writer David Campany presents an exploration of photography in 120 photographs. Proceeding not by chronology or genre or photographer, Campany’s eclectic selection unfolds according to its own logic. We see work by Henri Cartier-Bresson, William Eggleston, Helen Levitt, Garry Winogrand, Yves Louise Lawler, Andreas Gursky, and Rineke Dijkstra. There is fashion photography by William Klein, one of Vivian Maier’s contact sheets, and a carefully staged scene by Gregory Crewdson, as well as images culled from magazines and advertisements.

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Each ofthe 120 photographs is accompanied by Campany’s lucid and incisive commentary, considering the history of that image and its creator, interpreting its content and meaning, and connecting and contextualizing it with visual culture. Image by image, we absorb and appreciate Campany’s complex yet playful take on photography and its history.

The title, On Photographs, alludes to Susan Sontag’s influential and groundbreaking On Photography. As an undergraduate, Campany met Sontag and questioned her assessment of photography without including specific photographs. Sontag suggested that someday Campany could write his own book on the subject, titled On Photographs. Now he has.

It’s a useful book with lots on information on the photographs and the photographers, many of whom I’d previously never heard of. It’s not a book I would try to read from beginning to end. Rather it’s something to pick up and browse through when you have a few minutes to spare.

Edward Weston Omnibus

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A while back I picked a copy of “Edward Weston Omnibus. A Critical Anthology. Edited by Beaumont Newhall and Amy Conger, Gibbs M. Smith, Peregrine Smith Books, Salt Lake City, 1984.”

An Amazon Reviewer describes it as follows:

Edward Weston is one of the 20th century photographers who influenced many artists and left a unique and everlasting work of art to people who appreciate and understand his work. His aesthetic approach for photography makes him different in terms of the value, meaning, and dedication he has for his work of art. One can appreciate his ability to manipulate and distort the images of objects to make them appear in uncommon ways. He has an extraordinary skill for approaching and viewing subjects through his camera to capture details, light, shade, texture and movement in ensemble.

The book, Edward Weston Omnibus, holds a collection of critical articles written by his closest friends, journalists, and artists such as Diego Rivera, Ansel Adams. The articles were mainly written by his contemporaries who, in response to exhibitions of his works, admired, commented, questioned and in some cases challenged his style of photography that evolved from years of work in the West, Mexico and California in particular. The book also consists Weston’s responses to his critics and pictures of some of his works. His countless photographs of subjects such as still life, landscape and portraits were admired and praised for the flawless visibility of their elements. The book may help readers to familiarize themselves with Weston’s style of photography, in particular his selection of his subjects and his vantage points that are crucially responsible for creating fine prints.

There are around 50 articles, all of them quite short. In addition there are 44 plates of Weston photographs.

A couple of photobooks

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Its fine to view pictures on Facebook, Instagram etc. But having some in your hand that you can browse through is an entirely different, and perhaps more pleasant experience. So I decided to have a go at producing a couple of photobooks.

I’d consider these initial attempts to be more of an experiment than anything else. The point of the exercise was more to gain some experience in using Lightroom and Blurb than anything else.

The first book originated in a visit to the New England Air Museum organized by my friend Ken. Usually when I visit a museum such as this I look for a book describing it and its various exhibits. This time I looked in vain. They just didn’t have a such a book. So I decided to do my own. This particular book is a mixture of text and images. I dedicated it to my friend Ken and gave him a copy.

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The second book is, apart from a brief introduction, all pictures – taken around the lake where we have a house.

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I’m quite pleased with the results, and encouraged to make some more.

Taken over time with a variety of cameras.

Drive-By Shootings

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I recently came across this book: Drive-By Shootings. Photographs by a New York Taxi Driver by David Bradford.

It’s an interesting concept: an Art Director at Saks Fifth Avenue quits his job and takes up driving a taxi. While driving the taxi he takes the opportunity to take pictures of all and sundry: passengers, people in the street, buildings etc.

The book itself consists of a very large number of black and white images divided into five sections: A Day; At Night; Another Day; A Rainy Night and Day; Snow, Day and Night. Interspersed within the pictures are short pieces of text generally talking about the life of a New York City Taxi Driver.

To be honest I have not always been a fan of Street Photography. Most of the examples I see seem to be very ordinary pictures of people going about their lives. However, after looking more closely at the work of Gary Winogrand, Lee Friedlander, Joel Meyrowitz, Henri Cartier Bresson, André Kertész, Brassi, Doisneau and, of course, Robert Frank I’ve come to appreciate it more.

Unfortunately, I find most of the pictures in this book to be quite ordinary. At first it was fun to browse through them but after a while it became tiring. And there are way too many of them. One of the most impressive photobooks of the 20th Century is, of course, Frank’s “The Americans”. I gather that in the course of his road trip Frank took approx. 27,000 images and then condensed them into 83 in the final work. The present book could benefit from similar discipline.

So to me it’s a moderately interesting book, with too many fairly ordinary photographs. It was fun to browse through, but I wouldn’t pay the $45 that Amazon.com is asking for it.

Do you like old cameras?

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If so then this might be a book for you. It tells the story behind 100 vintage film cameras.

An introduction touches on issues of value and rarity and then goes on to explain the purpose and structure of the book:

After discussing some of the often forgotten basics, each section deals with a type of camera and how to use it, aiming at the photographer contemplating using a manual or semi-automatic film camera for the first time. The cameras listed are all practical propositions for a retro photographer with a reasonable budget. Each one has been carefully chosen as a typical example of a camera from its era. A comprehensive glossary at the end of the book gives definitions of terms that might be unfamiliar to photographers in the digital age.

This is followed by a section on each type of camera:

  • 35mm single-lens reflex
  • 35mm rangefinder cameras
  • 35mm viewfinder cameras
  • Roll-film single lens reflex
  • Sheet and roll-film folding cameras
  • Twin-lens reflex
  • Instamatic cartridge cameras
  • Stereo cameras
  • Panoramic and wide-angle cameras
  • Miniature cameras
  • Instant picture cameras

The book concludes with a section on retro accessories (exposure meters; rangefinders; flashguns, tripods, filters, close-up attachments, focal-length adapters, stereo accessories.

The book is nicely made with a good, solid cover and glossy pages. It’s also lavishly illustrated.

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While the selection seems a little idiosyncratic I doubt that you’ll ever one that all retro camera aficionados will agree on.

There’s a useful review of the book on Cameralabs. It concludes as follows:

There’s no shortage of camera history books around, but few that look this good. Of those that do, Retro Cameras stands out for Wade’s curation, compiling a compelling collection of well-known and unusual models with great-looking product photography throughout and just the right amount of text to inform without becoming a dry reference volume. Recommended whether you’re a collector, historian, camera geek or lover of a good coffee table book. Suffice it to say, it’s a great gift for photographers who love older cameras.

I couldn’t agree more.