Vivian Maier Street Photographer

Over the last year the photo community has been talking about Vivian Maier.

Maier was a nanny who, on her down time, photographed the streets of Chicago and the world from the 1950s until she passed away in 2007. Her images were purchased by John Maloof at an auction and he started scanning her negatives and processing her shot rolls of film. After posting some of her images to flickr with a question to the flickr community about what to do he received support from many who praised the images and wanted to see more.

Since then Maloof has had many shows of Maier's work and has now published a book, check out this link to order the book.  For our students the book is now on order at the LRC and should be coming in soon.  

One Shot Harris

The Cotton Candy Booth 1945 

One of the best books of photographs we have received at the LRC is One Shot Harris a collection of photographs by Charles "Teenie" Harris.  Harris was an African-American photographer working in Pittsburgh from the 1930s to the 1970s.

His images are a great document of his community and America during this time.  There are images from inside the numbers rackets, portraits of celebrities, street photographs, protests, crime scenes, store fronts and children playing.  He received his nickname One Shot from the Pittsburgh Mayor David L Lawrence who was always surprised that Harris would patiently wait for the that one shot at press conferences and it was always great.

The book is by Stanley Crouch an editorial columnist and Jazz critic and it includes a great essay by Professor Deborah Willis.  For those who can not make it to the LRC check out the Teenie Harris Archive online from the Carnegie Museum of Art to see all his images.

Alfred Stieglitz | The Key Set

Georgia O'Keeffe 1918

We recently received at the LRC Alfred Stieglitz | The Key Set a two volume book (over 1000 pages) of some of the nicest reproductions of Stieglitz's work.  The book contains a great essay by Sarah Greenough and is based on the exhibition at the National Gallery of Art in Washington Alfred Stieglitz: Known and Unknown.

The Steerage 1907

Stieglitz is considered to be the father of modern photography especially American photography and as such he played an important role in history, bridging the divide between early and modern art photography.

His best known work is The Steerage taken in 1907 which was highly influenced by Picasso.   He was and is an interesting person many thought he was an egotistical prick and others thought he was a genius either way he did take some beautiful images which are definitely worth exploring.  One of our favourites is the image of his wife Georgia O'Keeffe above.

Marwencol

Here is an interesting movie about photographer Mark Hogancamp who uses photography as therapy.

He has created a fictional world populated by GI Joe figures he calls Marwencol, which he photographs.  Check out the Marwencol website to find out more about Mark and his amazing fictional world.

Thanks to first year student Kristopher Laplante for letting us know about this great film, we now have it on order at the LRC.

Food Styling Book

We have recently received the book, Food Styling: The Art of Preparing Food for the Camera by Delores Custer at the LRC.  For those interested in pursing a career in Food Photography, Styling or for those shooting their food assignment this is a great resource.

Take a look at this video of Delores Custer at one of her workshops.


Have a listen to this interview with Delores Custer on American Public Media too, her interview starts 14:45 minutes into the show.

Check out her website for more info, to all our students this book is now on order at the LRC.

Abelardo Morell Book & Documentary

One of the very first photographers we look at in our History of Photography course is Abelardo Morell, we are very please to have his book Camera Obscura at the LRC.

This book has some of the most visually interesting images we have ever seen.

We are also please to have a documentary about Abelardo Morell, Shadow of the House, at the LRC.

This documentary looks at Morell's creative process and follows him on his journey back home to Cuba for the first time since he escaped.

Bernd and Hilla Becher

We recently received a large selection of books by Bernd and Hilla Becher at the LRC.  The Becher's are considered to be two of the most influential photographers and artist of the last half century.

They are best know for their photographic typologies "the study or systematic classification of types that have characteristics or traits in common".  They basically photographed the same types of structures again and again under the same lighting conditions and distance and they created beautiful bodies of work.

Sally Mann - What Remains

Sally Mann is one of America's greatest photographers working today.  Her exploration into old film processes like the collodion process  have produced amazing and beautiful images.

Her documentary style illustrates that you do not have to travel far from home to create beautiful works of art.

What Remains is a intriguing and touching portrait of an artist, the DVD is at the LRC.

Karsh Is History

A new addition to the LRC, Karsh is History, this great Canadian photographer is showcased in this great DVD.

If you like photography and if you love portraiture this is the video to watch come on it is Karsh much respect.

Albert Watson - reflections

Albert Watson was awarded the Royal Photographic Society's Centenary Medal in London this September.

Watson is a fashion and commercial photographer working for the last 35 years.  If you have flipped through an issue of Vogue in the last 20 years you have seen his work.

This video is also from Phaidon a great publishing house for books on photography.

Stephen Shore Uncommon Places

Stephen Shore is such a cool guy he hung out with Andy Warhol at his Factory and at age 29 he had his first show at MoMA.

Both Shore and William Eggleston were the first to catapult colour photography into the art world making this book a must see, available at the LRC.

Walker Evans American Photographs

Before Andres Serrano's America, even before Robert Frank's The Americans there was the OG Walker Evans' American Photographs.

Available at the LRC.

Robert Frank's The Americans

Robert Frank's The Americans, the Looking In Expanded Edition, is now at the LRC.

In this volume Frank's seminal work is celebrated on it's 50th anniversary with extra features like contact sheets, letters and later re-interpretations.

William Klein Rome

William Klein Rome is at the LRC, this book is a recent re-issue and a great see and read.

His New York, and Paris books are coming soon.

The Photobook: A History Vol. 1 & 2

These two books are a must read for any serious student of photography and especially anyone working on a portfolio. The two volumes look at how influential Photobooks have been to the history of photography.

Martin Parr and Gerry Badger have brilliantly photographed and written on some of the most important books in photograph's history, both volumes are available at the LRC.

Why Photography Matters...?

Why Photography Matters As Art As Never Before, although the title of this book seems rather redundant to photographers Michael Fried explores photography and photographers in the contemporary art world.

Fried looks at photographers like Jeff Wall, Cindy Sherman, Thomas Ruff, Andreas Gursky, Philip-Lorca diCorcia and Bernd and Hilla Becher and makes an argument that photography is now at the cutting edge of the art world.

Get it at the LRC.

After Photography

After Photography explores photography in the digital age and what lies ahead for photography.

Ritchin looks at privacy issues, the Web and photography and the idea that a photograph reflects reality in any way.

A website loosely related to this book is Afterphotography.org.

This book is of course at the LRC.

Milton Rogovin

Milton Rogovin America's greatest Social Documentary Photographer is celebrated in this book, The Making of a Social Documentary Photographer, about his life as a photographer and social activist.

Rogovin just celebrated his 100th birthday on December 30th, 2009, Happy Birthday Milton!!

This book is now at the LRC.

William Eggleston's Guide

This recently re-released book, William Eggleston's Guide, by John Szarkowski is a must read/see for any serious student of photography.

Eggleston is an enigmatic photographer but he is definitely worth a serious look, get it at the LRC.

In Real Life Six Women Photographers by Leslie Sills

This book looks at six women photographers starting with Imogen Cunningham, Dorothea Lange and Lola Alvarez Bravo, and finishing up with three contemporary female photographers Carrie Mae Weems, Else Dorfman and Cindy Sherman.  

Available at the LRC of course.