5 comments about Looking at Photographs: 100 Pictures from the Collection of The Museum of Modern Art.

1. 
   When John Szarkowski recently passed away at the age of 81, the world lost one of photography's most important figures. He was the "Stieglitz" of the 1960s and 70s, changing the way audiences look at photographic images and he shaped the way future audiences will come to appreciate the pioneering work of Arbus, Eggleston, Friedlander and Winogrand. When he took over the reins of curator of photography at the Museum of Modern Art in New York from Edward Steichen, photography's early twentieth century grand master, Szarkowski promoted a "new" photography that incorporated the everyday moment as it was unfolding on the streets around cities and towns across America.
   
   His great gift to all of us who love photography besides his championing of new talent, was his incredible skill at writing texts, essays, criticism, books on photography. With his talent as a writer, and his background as a photographer, he was able to open a window onto this two-dimensional world of form and tone, shape, texture and composition, explaining the ins and outs, the subtleties, and the intuitions of image makers, their techniques and their medium in all its finesse.
   
   Having simply tried to take a good photograph all his life, he simply knew a good photograph when he saw one. It is what made him such a great curator. His own best known books of photographs, "The Idea of Louis Sullivan" published in 1956, contains photographs of the architecture of Chicago, and his other, "The Face of Minnesota" published in 1958, contains haunting landscape images of his home state. He wrote the way he carefully crafted his own images. He framed each paragraph paying close attention to his ear, to diction and all the elements of style. It is why I love to read him and why I think he was the greatest writer to take on this visual art form.
   
   Two books of his about photography that in my opinion are indispensable are "The Photographer's Eye" first published in 1966, and "Looking at Photographs" first published in 1973. With these two collections, the reader will gain an historic appreciation of photography from its earliest innovators beginning in the 1830s to the period of high modernism in the 1970s. With Szarkowski as your guide, readers will appreciate how the medium advanced, yet they will also understand how it has remained fundamentally the same picture-making process when it comes to handling two-dimensional space.
   
   In The Photographer's Eye, Szarkowski covers what a viewer needs to take in from a photograph, how it was framed, cropped, what the subject is, what the detail is, the focus and the vantage point. In each of these wide areas, he supplies important photographs from the Museum of Modern Art's vast collection that illustrate these points. He begins with "The Thing Itself" the "what" of photography, the landscape or still life, or portrait that the photographer has aimed his camera at. From there he moves on to how photographers fix on detail, the synechdocal "parts" that make up the "whole" and that produce visual metaphor: the close up of the hands, the side of a face, a rifle, a window, a headlight of a car, a door latch.
   
   He then illustrates how photographers carefully frame their images, how they crop, how they envision the image from its interior picture plane to what is left out, alluded to, outside the frame. And finally, he shows how photographers measure time; freeze moments, single out the present for the past of some distant future. Added to this element of time is vantage, that trick of where to place the picture plane in terms of its perspective, foreground to background, its recession to a vanishing point or points, whether it is head-on and flat, or deep and endless, looming up or slanting down, the world from above, or the world from below.
   
   In Looking at Photographs which is subtitled--"100 Pictures from the Collection of the Museum of Modern Art," Szarkowski leads the reader across time, from the earliest best works of the 19th century masters: Timothy O'Sullivan, Fredrick Evans, Lewis Hine, and Jacob Riis, all the way to Robert Frank, Roy DeCarava, Paul Caponigro, and Joel Meyerowitz.
   
   The book is printed so that there is a one-page essay facing each of the 100 photographs it describes. Within that compact structure, Szarkowski is able to move from one idea to another across the history of photography as the reader turns the pages, and he is able to pinpoint for the reader, the attributes that each photographer brings to his medium. In this way the reader learns to read images for their wealth of craft, form and subject matter. It is like having the curator take you on a personal guided tour of the museum's photography galleries.
   
   I learned from reading this book that Timothy O'Sullivan's "white skies" were a result of the wet plate's over-sensitivity to blue light and that "sky areas were thus automatically overexposed, and rendered as blank white." I also learned that O'Sullivan "...accepted the white sky and used it as a shape, enclosed in tension between the picture's visual horizon and the edges of the plate." Knowing this, I can never look at O'Sullivan's work again without understanding how much this 19th century photographic pioneer wanted the figure-ground relationship of sky to land to feature in his compositions. And this is only one example from the book. There are 99 more.
   
   Owning this book is like having your own private collection of the world's most famous photographs. The way you look at photographs will be enriched. On your next visit to a gallery or a museum, you will be able to see so much more thanks to the intelligent and thoughtful writing of John Szarkowski. His precise, clear and uncluttered prose style will make your reading experience a pleasure in itself.



2. A Collection, New Yorker style

   It is difficult to make a collection of photographs by different people and not make it haphazard, unless there is an underlying theme. The book consists of 100 pictures by 100 photographers in bw, taken in the 100 years or so up to 1960's, accompanied by a page of text each. The writing is insightful and while is not meant to be a systematic introduction to the history of photography, nonetheless is quite educational if you are interested in the subject. While the photographs range from the concrete to the abstract, the book is coherent helped largely by text. I enjoyed reading the text and looking at the photographs.

   The book's strength and its weakness is that it strives to be stylish and original; the writing is 'sophisticated' and snobbish, a la New Yorker. Some of the 'deep' comments I did not much care for. Perhaps more importantly, a majority of the photos chosen for the photographer are not the ones that are usually considered the photographers' most representative works.

   You should not read the book to study the history of photography nor to find the standard representative works of the famous photographers. I think people who are familiar with the rough history of photography and the more famous photographers will enjoy looking through the book - perhaps checked out from a library.




3. John Szarkowski has selected 100 worthwhile images and has crafted exceptionally well written commentary about each image. The value of the collection far exceeds the sum of the parts. The book is an education about photography. It doesn't matter how much you like an image or agree with the commentary because by seeing the image and reading the commentary you will learn about photography and about life.



4. Although this book has much less female nudity than many photographic books, there are two such pages in the book. If this type of representation is offensive to you, either skip this book or avoid those pages.

   This book has modest purposes. "This is a picture book, and its first purpose is to provide the material for simple delectation." Beyond that, it is "a visual interim report [as of 1973] on the results of collecting photographs at The Museum of Modern Art." These purposes are magnificently fulfilled, and your eyes and mind will be filled with many useful new perspectives and thoughts as a result of your delectations here. Your life will be expanded by seeing much more, both in photographs and in life, as a result.

   Mr. Szarkowski, head of the photography collection at MOMA, points at that photography "has received little serious study." As a result, a language and analytical framework for considering photography are not yet developed. To overcome that limitation. Mr. Szarkowski has provided a number of perspectives in the one-page essays that accompany each page of photography. These perspectives include the utilitarian purpose of the image, the style of the photographer, the technology of the methods used, and the significance of the subjects or subject. He also draws your attention to detail or information that expand your knowledge. It is like having the best docent's photography tour of your life, as you go through the images.

   These essays are modestly described as simply "an attempt to describe photography from a somewhat more liberal and exploratory perspective." Well, they are much more than that. They are like turning the light on to see the photographs for the first time, unless you are a talented photographer already.

   In creating this book, a great decision was made to limit each photographer to one page of work. In this way, you get to see more types of images and styles. I think this added greatly to the knowledge and enjoyment that can be gained from this wonderful book. A great benefit of this approach was to allow selecting photographs that would reproduce well in this page size format. I heartily approve of that approach!

   In the book you will find portraits, sketches for painters, ways of recording far away places, Civil War reporting, aerial reconnaisance, methods of encouraging connections, insights into the physics of life, and efforts to be a successor to painting. As the author says, "Photography has remained . . . radical, instructive, disruptive, influential, problematic, and [an] astonishing phenomenon of the modern epoch."

   Here are my favorite images:

   D.O. Hill and W.B. Johnston, David Octavius Hill, Celotype, c. 1845

   Baron Isadore Taylor, Nadar, Woodbury type, 1872

   Madonna with Children, Julia Margaret Cameron, Albumen print, c. 1866

   Sugar Bowl with Rowboat, Wisconsin Dells, Henry Hamilton Bennett, 1911

   Avenue du Bois de Boulogne, Paris, Jacques Henri Lartigue

   Georgia Engelhard, Alfred Stieglitz, 1921

   Torso of Neil, Edward Weston, 1925

   Babe Ruth, Nikolas Muray, c. 1927

   James Joyce, Berenice Abbott, 1928

   Wes Fesler Kicking a Football, Dr. Harold E. Edgerton, c. 1935

   A Boy with a Straw Hat with Flag Waiting to March in a Pro-War Parade, New York City, Diane Arbus, 1967

   The Museum of Modern Art added a photograph to its collection as only the 23rd object acquired in April 1930. From the beginning, the museum has been committed to photography and was the first museum to establish its own independent department of photography. Invariably, there are copious hangings from the collection available for viewing whenever you visit MOMA. The museum should be proud of creating and now reproducing an improved version of this wonderful set of selections from its extensive collection. Perhaps it is time to create a larger version of this book that is more representative of the whole collection.

   After you finish expanding your vision through these marvelous essays and photographs, I urge you to do some photography of your own to express yourself. You will appreciate what you see even more when you create your own images. A good way to begin is to find a subject that is covered in this book and create your own version of that subject. In that way, you can get "inside of the camera" with the photographer. After your photographs can be seen, compare them with the book. Go back and try again. Repeat the process . . . until you have captured the image you were seeking. Like truth, images can be fleeting and transparent.

   See more and be more through your improved vision!




5. This book fills the reader with emotion and knowledge about photography and photographs. I will never look at a photograph the same way after having read it. The language is beautiful and inspiring and photographs wonderfully reproduced. Anyone who loves the subject or art in general will find excitement on every page. NOW I can begin to know which photographers to study first and how to approach an enormous subject.

No comments about Big Book of Old-Time Spot Illustrations (Dover Pictorial Archive Series).

5 comments about Exposed: A Celebration of the Male Nude from 90 of the World's Greatest Photographers.

1. What I loved about this book is that you're not only looking at sensual pictures of nude men but you're learning something about each pictures. In each pictures, there's a brief dossier on the respective photographer as well as the intention or interpretation behind each pictures.
   
   For me, I knew maybe 5 photographers. The rest, I certainly learned alot. In addition, I was impressed by some of their photos.
   
   My only complaint is that as I turned the pages, my fingerprints would be on the glossy photos. It's like you have to wear white gloves and a pair of tweezers to turn a page.
   
   Other than that, nice collection.



2. This book met my expectations...and then some. Looking through the book makes one feel that they are the recipient of a private showing from a museum. This book will be enjoyed by those with a discerning eye for art, as well as, for beauty.



3. There are some incredibly fine works included in this book by very important artists who have photographed the nude male: for example, Imogene Cunningham, David Hockney, Robert Mapplethorpe, Eadweard Muybridge, Jan Saudek, Arthur Tress, Horst P. Horst, Herbert List, George Hoyningen-Huene, Wilhelm Von Gloeden and Man Ray. (I suppose we should add Andy Warhol to the list although I believe his greatest talent was his indefatigable self-promotion.) There are also photos here by Harriet Leibowitz, Roy Blakey and Tom Bianchi. My three favorites are by Henning Von Berg from his series "Factory Boyz", the beautifully lit photograph of Robert Blanchon by George Mott, and Greg Friedler's "Untitled." But where is the fine work by Bruce Weber, Herb Ritts, Greg Gorman, George Dureau,Thomas Eakins, John Dugdale, Jock Sturgis and Helmut Newton? Yes, both Newton and Sturgis did photograph nude males occasionally; I have seen them. Since this book is called "a celebration of the male nude from 90 of the world's greatest photograhers," certainly the inclusion of any or all of these artists would have given more credibility to the editor's claim. Speaking of credibility, this collection would have more of that if both the editor and writer of the foreward had not been included in this collection. (Certainly the photographs of both Reed Massengill and Phil Braham are good ones-- I'd be happy to own either one of them. I just think this is more chutzpah than is necessary here.) Any collection of this sort that doesn't include a photograph by George Platt Lynes has lost its chance of coming close to being considered a definitive work. Finally, if "beefcake" photographers like Bruce of Los Angeles, Champion, Lon of New York and Bob Mizer are here, then why not include something by Kristen Bjorn? Nobody is better at beefcake than this gentleman.

   The photographs of older men with less than perfect bodies add a nice dimension to this book as well as those that show a sense of humor on the part of the photographer. I refer here to "Shoe Ad 1" by Terry Richardson. The photographers are shown in alphabetical order. That seems as good a way to categorize them as any. The biographical sketches are informative. I'm not sure we need Mr. Braham's explanations of what we are seeing, however. There is truth in the old cliche that one picture is worth a thousand words.




4. Out of 90 images only 35 (5 are very good, other 30 so so)are acceptible for me. The remaining 55 are disgusting.
   I respect those fetish. But I don't want to *see* them pissing on bed. Inside the book there even is a pic of an old man (the pic only took his head and breast) standing like a wood staring. It's meaningless and it' so annoying. I can only say that the editor want to prove he is tasteful and thoughtful by choosing so manny (*2/3*) disgusting/ugly photos here. However, it's not my taste and I hate those "thoughtful" critics--those parasites.



5. Thank you Phil Braham. Quite possibly the best review of male nude photography/artists in years. Names like Man Ray, Wilhelm Von Gloeden, Andy Warhol, David Hockney, Robert Mapplethorpe and Drew Wojcik speek for it self. The best reference book of top photographers exploring the subject of male nude.

4 comments about Alice Neel.

1. This book has a wonderful selection of paintings and commentary by Alice Neel- I used to check it out from the library for months at a time until I realized I should just buy it because I kept using it as an important reference for my work. I love it!



2. Alice Neel has certainly inspired me to paint again. The book is wonderful and chronicles her personal story, along with paintings corresponding to those periods of her life and essays by those who knew her well. It's also a treat to get the insight of many of her famous sitters, including "Nancy". This book is also a catalogue of her work which accompanies her centennial exhibition touring the country. I can't wait to see her work up close and personal in 2001. This publication has wet my appetite to experience more and more of the artistry of Alice Neel.



3. I've compared this edition virtually plate by plate to the previous (1983 - Patricia Hills) edition and I must say that I find the selections as well as the quality of the color printing to be far superior in this edition. Perhaps if one found a first edition of the Patricia Hills publication this would not be the case. But I far prefer this edition and can find no reason to criticize it, other than having a vested or political interest.



4. This new monograph has been released to coincide with the Whitney's retrospective. Both the long over due retrospective and the new monograph are lacking in quantity and depth needed in doing justice to this amazingly prolific and important artist. Abrams' previous Neel monograph had many more images and excerpts of important interviews with Neel throughout the book (provided by the forsight of Patricia Hills.) The new book, under the Whitney museums' auspice, includes interviews with some of the sitters. While these anecdotes are interesting it doesn't make up for the total superiority of the 1983 monograph (reprinted in 1995.) If you can find a used version of the previous monograph, you would be wise to aquire it. I also recommend Pamela Allara's "Pictures of People, Alice Neel's American Portrait Gallery" which puts Neel's work in a cultural context (from the depression through the feminist movement.)

1 comments about Chinese Ceramics: A New Comprehensive Survey: From the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco.

1. A must for anyone interested in Chinese ceramics. Beautifully photographed - a first class publication of quality.

2 comments about Worlds of Thomas Jefferson At Monticello.

1. 
   What a book! If you are planning on visiting Monticello or learning about Thomas Jefferson, you must have this book! This is like having Thomas Jefferson's accounting book with you. Many, if not all of Jefferson's personal effects are cataloged in this book!



2. If you are interested in Thomas Jefferson or Monticello, this is a terrific book. Over 150 of Jefferson's personal possessions are photographed and documented with detailed explanations and provenance of the items. Covered are varied objects such as works of art, china, portraits, scientific instruments, natural history specimens, and personal objects. This book really illustrates how varied Jefferson's interests were. A very fascinating book!

No comments about Mechanical Brides: Women and Machines from Home to Office.

No comments about Andy Warhol Live.

No comments about French Art of the Eighteenth Century at The Huntington.

No comments about The Art of Sardax (The Erotic Print Society's Great British Erotic Art S.).