Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2004/05/09
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]----- Original Message ----- From: "Ted Grant" <tedgrant@shaw.ca> To: "Leica Users Group" <lug@leica-users.org> Sent: Sunday, May 09, 2004 4:12 PM Subject: [Leica] used photo books. > Hi folks, > This isn't off topic because it's about used photography books. You know > from yesteryear when the world was all film and Buck Rogers was a space > cowboy. > > I'm a consummate used book store miner, always digging in them searching for > photography book nuggets, like from the 1900's, the earlier the better. Each > find reveals so much of where we came from as photographers, how our camera > gear, particularly Leica's, were used and what those photographers saw and > captured compared to what we see and capture today. > > Two wonderful finds yesterday, "U.S. CAMERA ANNUAL 1939." and "THE GERMAN > PHOTOGRAPHIC ANNUAL1956" > > "U.S. CAMERA ANNUAL 1939." > A $20.00 purchase of a million dollar look at the photography of 1939 as > selected by Edward Steichen. A small portfolio of his work at the beginning > is beautifully re-produced with a self portrait dated 1898 followed by b&w > portraits of his famous folks and other subjects. > > Today if it still existed it would be a magazine on the rack in a shop. 1939 > it's a wire spiral bound hard cover book with beautifully reproduced > photographs fit to frame. Amazing quality production, aaaaaaaahhhh the days > of real books! :-) All in all I can only say, if you're a book miner like > me, keep a sharp eye for this as it'll be a treasure in your personal > library. > > "THE GERMAN PHOTOGRAPHIC ANNUAL1956" > Another $20.00 nugget and the first edition printed in English. A single > photograph to a page illustrating 120 pages of very interesting pictures of > which 33 were shot with Leica's! > > The book is assembled in two parts, the descriptive section containing a > tiny bio of each photographer and why, what he used and how he shot the > picture, actually very interesting copy. > > The second half a clean photo book of un-interrupted pictures, predominately > b&w with 8 colour plates. Obviously you can see where colour ranked! ;-) > > ( I thought it fit appropriately with my well used, "Real Photographers > shoot B&W, eat sushi and drink scotch!") ;-) > > just weekend chatter. > > ted > Hmm .It,s hard to find a better town for sushi then Vancouver i think. simon j