5 comments about Shooting & Selling Your Photos: The Complete Guide to Making Money with Your Photography.

1. After taking several hundred photos on a recent trip to Mexico I decided that many of the shots were saleable. As I'd already shot my photos I now needed some information on selling them. That was the motivation for getting this title.
   
   Zuckerman has some wonderful photos peppering this book. They are compelling and well reproduced. Put I really didn't find that it helped me understand how to sell my photos - especially as they're more geared toward the travel market. I just don't have an interest in setting up a display at an art fair, nor in making an internet site to sell my photos.
   
   This is really more of a picture book, having more images than text. I admit I enjoy looking at the pictures, but for me it didn't take me where I wanted to go thus my 3 star rating. Mainly this book appears to be geared toward people who are much more into photography than I.



2. My husband loved the information in the book but wasn't quite as impressed with the photos.



3. All in all, I think this is a good book for those wanting to actually sell photographs, not those who want to learn how to take a good photograph. The reader shold keep that in mind. Jim covers a lot of thoughts that are necessary to get published. If that's your goal, then this book will help you greatly.
   
   Digital - While I would have liked to see more coverage, keep in mind that this book was published in 2003 and likely written in 2002. And Jim consistenly uses medium format cameras. At that time, digital had not progressed as far for those types of cameras, primarily from a cost/benefit perspective. If Jim were more of a 35mm user, I'm sure we would have seen more coverage.
   
   Photo information - I would have liked more information on the photo locations and how the photos came to be taken. There is explanation on many, but I wish it was provided for more of the photos in the book.
   
   Portfolio ideas - I liked his suggestions of potential shoot locations and ideas. It really got me thinking and I've made a long list of ideas to try in 2008.



4. Excellent book for Photographers!! As a new photographer, this is a great book. I found the information so helpful and truly easy to understand!



5. This is a great introduction to selling photography by one of the very best in the business. Jim Zuckerman is very diverse in his stock photography subject matter and that diversity shows through in the wide range of knowledge he shares in this book. The best coverage is on selling photography at art shows and advice on submitting article and calendar proposals to publishers. If you're specifically interested in stock agencies, I highly recommend Lee Frost's Photos That Sell (see my review on that book). Mr. Zuckerman's advice on stock libraries is a good introduction but Lee Frost devotes most of his book to the topic. The photography in the book is of course wonderful, but I would have liked to have seen the author share more information about which images were his best sellers, how many times each image has sold and where, and other details which Lee Frost shares in this book in many cases. However, this is very solid introduction to selling photography and I recommend it.

5 comments about 100 Naked Girls.

1. Hegre has some amazing skills and amazing talent working for him, but unfortunetly not much of either is shown here. Even the breathtaking Marketa looks undirected and bored beyond belief. Save the money and take a free tour of his website. You will get better quality.



2. 100 Girls. I like 100 Years by FFF better. Out of this collage I preferred, or flagged about 6 or less pics. Granted in another's opinion, one may prefer 38. It's just on what you visually prefer. This item will be kept as the book and pics are well put together. Happy Viewing.



3. Interesting piece of work, with Petter Hegre's quality. High quality printing and presentation. The only downside of the product, looks no different from the material from Hegre you can see in the Web for free.



4. Hegre has an eye for a certain kind of beauty in women. Not all women's lives create it, it may be prettiness rather than beauty, and it lasts for only a short part of a life. Still, it's there, and Hegre has captured 100 different kinds of it.
   
   Marketa, the cover model, sets the pattern: they're all young, slender, and very lovely. A few, like Tatiane and Lucy, don't match the European mold - very few, and I would have liked more of the variety they represent. Some, like Luba are very 'posed.' Others, like Olga and Lena or Sveta and Inga, show models in close groups, hinting at physcial affection between them. Natural looks predominate but some - like Lza - offer surprises. The majority, typified by Olga, Andrea, and Dina, convey the fun the woman seems to have in simply being herself.
   
   This book is almost too much, though. The models are sweet, but I wouldn't want to eat only desserts all the time either. There are lots of other ways for a woman to look good - but Hegre has ignored them in favor of just this very conventional one. Well, it's an easy one to enjoy.
   
   This is a lovely collection of very pretty young women. It's not overtly erotic, except maybe once or twice. Instead, it simply celebrates the charm and elegance that's native to these lovely models.
   
   //wiredweird



5. I got the book for my boyfriend and he honestly hasn't even looked at it, just flipped through. I looked at it though and just thought it was cheesy. The girls all look the same and they just aren't very sexy. I was disappointed. Poo

5 comments about Audrey Style.

1. If you admire Audrey Hepburn, you'll enjoy this book. This is my inspiration for my sewing projects.



2. Even though I'm definitely an AH fan, I thought that the author went overboard with praise for Miss Hepburn's personal qualities. No doubt AH herself would be embarassed to read all this fawning and adulation.
   
   This book attempts to combine into one an AH biography and an analysis of her fashion style. Unfortunately, both fall short. The only worthwhile text was the introduction by Hubert de Givenchy.



3. I think Audrey Hepburn will be eternally remembered not only as one of the kindest and most generous women that has ever volunteered for Unicef, but to us women as a timeless, most graceful role model of style. She's the perfect embodiment of the adagio that in elegance less is more. Her streamlined, understated style that yet made one of the biggest statements in fashion history continues to be an inspiration to us women of the 21st century despite the forty years that separate us from "Breakfast at Tiffany's." Clarke Keogh's book captures Audrey's spirit like no other. It is beautifully illustrated and there are contributions from Hubert de Givenchy, Ralph Lauren or Gregory Peck, among other people who generously share with us souvenirs of this angel of grace that they had the chance to meet in person. Her wardrobe and makeup are meticulously reviewed and this book will prove an invaluable tool and source of inspiration for all those women who want to bring more elegance and refinement into their lives. One of the best assets in your style bookcase and one that you will gladly pass down to generations of graceful women to come.



4. If they reprinted this without any words, it would get 5 stars.
   
   Random examples of the writing:
   
   "'Oh, they were fated to meet,' says Connie, curiously choosing the exact same words used to describe Audrey's friendship with Givenchy." (Like OMG! Someone said Audrey was _fated_ to meet Givenchy! And someone else said she was _fated_ to meet another person!)
   
   "... she intones with the well-bred vowels of a Farmington girl, with some of her old boss, Diana Vreeland, thrown in for emphasis."
   
   Pamela Clarke Keogh comes off like an untalented high school student in a creative writing class. You know the sort, under the impression that bludgeoning the reader with random vignettes and a morass of clauses is "descriptive."
   
   And don't get me started on the over-the-top hagiographic nature of this book. Look, I love Audrey as much as the next person. Probably more. But how many quotes like "and she couldn't have been sweeter! So gracious! Beyond gracious! Heavenly!" do we need? There's such a thing as praising so much it becomes meaningless.



5. It's putting the quirky details together that makes this book more revealing than the standard saccharin drenched puff piece.
   
   For example, Hepburn is quoted as saying that she wears a size 8 1/2 shoe, while the author clearly states later in the book that Hepburn wore a size ten.
   
   Her mother's quotes, if accurate, provide convincing evidence that the Baroness Von Heemstra was more than a little jealous of her far more beautiful daughter.
   
   The author's claim that Audrey "didn't eat during times of stress" directly contradicts close friends Audrey Wilder and Doris Brynner, who claimed that Hepburn loved to eat. As for her staying so thin due to malnutrition that "permanently altered her metabolism", this is unlikely. According to the author, Hepburn speaks of gaining twenty pounds early in her career. Other bios confirm this. Perhaps in later years Hepburn simply watched what she ate.
   
   According to the author, Hepburn washed her hair every four or five days. She SMOKED. Whew, draw your OWN conclusions about that one!
   
   I've found Robert Wolders a bit creepy ever since I read about him in "Queenie", a superb biography of Merle Oberon. From Merle to Audrey to Shirlee Fonda; this guy clearly has a THING for wealthy, older glamour girls. He's always described as an actor/businessman. Hmmmmmmm.
   
   An additional strength of this book is its focus on her personal fashion philosophy--not just her association with Givenchy.
   
   Audrey Hepburn is my absolute favorite and always will be. She had many lessons to teach; not only about beauty and elegance, but also about tolerance, grace and kindness. No star of today can compare.
   
   PS-I'm just tucking into the Barry Paris book, which is FAR more in depth. I recommend following Audrey Style with this one if you haven't already read it.

5 comments about Steve McCurry: Looking East: Portraits by Steve McCurry.

1. Tremendous pictures by the one and only Steve Mccurry.
   Big print size portraits, great captures.



2. I think this is the best collection and the best printing quality of McCurry's portraits to-date. These images are truly fascinating. I enjoy in particular those from Tibet.



3. If you don't know what is portrait photography, or better, if you think you know what is portrait photography, you have to buy and/or read this grand format book !!
   Emotion, beauty, technical perfection....certainly one of my favourites



4. Photographer Steve McCurry's images of Asian peoples and culture is renowned the world over, so it's especially pleasing to discover them all together under one cover in LOOKING EAST: PORTRAITS BY STEVE MCCURRY. Don't think you know Steve McCurry? Yes, you probably do - he's the photographer who captured the Afghan girl with the big eyes that appeared on the cover of National Geographic. More big-eyed and striking peoples are captured here, displaying the power of the portrait in cultural understanding.
   
   Diane C. Donovan
   California Bookwatch



5. This is a magnificent book full of stunning portraits.
   
   McCurry has captured the soul of his subjects using simple yet finely tuned techniques of a master photographer.
   
   Opening this large book to page 48 we see the Kuchi Shepherd from Kashmir, his orange beard jumps from the page while his sage blue eyes reflect the years.
   
   The Afghan Girl is here too. Her blue green eyes tinged with ochre match her clothes and background so perfectly she appears to own on the page.
   
   Of course I'm romanticising about these images. Most of these people endure hardships most Westerners can't imagine. McCurry went back to look for the girl many years later (a National Geographic documentary). He found her still poor and unknown. Her eyes were still luminous though, her humanity shining through.
   
   This is what photography is all about - no fancy tricks or gimmicks, just letting the subject speak for themselves, to live on the page and in our memories.

5 comments about Twilight: Photographs by Gregory Crewdson.

1. The book is fantastic! However to my horror it was packed very badly and the book arrived scratched and a damaged. Amazon expects me to pay for all shipping costs to get a refund of the book value only. Since I live in Australia the return shipping would surpass the value of the books sent. I emailed Amazon with this issue 2 weeks ago and NO REPLY!
   
   
   DO NOT BUY FINE ART BOOKS FROM AMAZON!!



2. I love this book, its so inspiring. The title "twilight" is a time of the day when things seem real but at the same time they dont. The thing I love is that the illustrations look like photographs in a way, which is the piont their trying to make.



3. These photos are 'quiet' but intriguing. The lightings in these photos are amazing. Sometimes it is hard to believe that these are photos and not drawings.
   
   I personally like photos/movies shot under low budget -- and these settings were certainly not cheap -- but if you don't mind that, this is good book to have.



4. While Gregory Crewdson may be the most overhyped, overpaid photography around today, he is also a master of this type of color, creative, fictive scene. This work is deliberate, deep, and strange, and includes a good essay by Rick Moody. It is a modern masterwork, for sure, and while Crewdson's retrospective book "1985-2005" is average at best, this cohesive body of work is well worth the price.



5. 
   I can't believe another reviewer called this book contrived and insincere. That is absolutely ridiculous. This collection of work is quite sincerely attached to feelings of strangeness and otherness in everyday life. If you think those feelings are shallow and relegated to teenagers (and I find it very insulting that someone spoke of teens that way), then it's a sad, sad world.
   
   It is mysterious and strange and wonderful. Everyone can appreciate that.

5 comments about Seeing Is Forgetting the Name of the Thing One Sees: A Life of Contemporary Artist Robert Irwin.

1. Robert Irwin has lived his life as both a solitary creator and unrelenting seeker to the same consummate degree that only Dante Alighieri, Agnes Martin, Meister Eckhart, Lao Tsu, and a handful of others have sought. If you haven't heard of him, you should read this anyway. Remember, it even took Bach two centuries to get his proper due. Regardless, this book changed a lot for me. I am forever grateful.
   
   Weschler's prose is Irwin's lighting. His book good as this biography junkie has ever read, and he does it in only 203 pages. As I write this, you can buy this book used for the price of a Domino's pizza - that's all i'm saying.



2. If you're an artist, you need this book. Even if you don't like Irwin's work (or never heard of him.) Remarkably, this biography of the most minimal of minimal artists contains no abstruse language, no mysteriously self-important pronouncements, nor even a single reference to any French esthetic theorist. Not only is this written in clean, straightforward prose; you can hardly put it down. It also raises critical, fascinating questions about the nature of art, and of the way we see. I've recommended this book to several people. It's never what they expect. They've always thanked me.



3. *
   
   I am fascinated by the creative process. I am fascinated by physical manifestations born from the spark of an idea. I am fascinated by the complex psychology, rigorous philosophy and simple backbone evinced by those devotees of method. And I am blown-away by Robert Irwin.
   
   My first contact with Robert Irwin's work came in graduate school when a few friends and I drove from Philadelphia to Manhattan to visit the Dia Center for the Arts. There on an upper floor I encountered a truly shocking, yet subduing, experience. Irwin had taken over the entire level and divided into rooms demarcated with translucent scrim. I walked slowly, from space to space, enclosed but not, silent in presence yet bursting with internal applause, and in awe. I marveled at the solidity of light that slid through the Dia's industrial steel windows, tracing its way across two layers of the thin white fabric and gently landing on the concrete floor. My eyes were tickled by the subtlety of color emanating from the vertical fluorescent lights wrapped in gels. There must have been thirty others there at the same time, meandering like ghosts whitened by one, two, three layers of scrim, yet the space was absolutely quiet. This was the first time that I truly understood the word ?perception.? It came in a space filled with exacted simplicity.
   
   Since then I have tried to follow Irwin's work, both past and present, only to find that it is rarely photographed, as the medium cannot do the work justice. However, Lawrence Weschler's biography on the artist is a tremendous piece of writing that will give you much more appreciation for Irwin than any catalog ever could. Weschler spent years interviewing the artist, tracking down collaborators and researching the works. He exhibits an amazing understanding of Irwin's intentions and adds much needed commentary to keep the story straight while tracing the complex and highly personal evolution of the man and his art. From descriptions of Irwin's self-imposed eight month exile in Ibiza, to his two year long rigorous exercise (and again, exile) to create what amounted to twenty lines, Weschler gives us an in depth look at the zen-like disposition of the artist in his search for the perceptual (and hence, not conceptual). Irwin's diligence and rigor will stupefy even those most devoted to their process, and discussion of his material experimentation will act to spur imaginations. Robert Irwin supplies the majority of storytelling, however, and lets the reader in on often humorous tales of the art world from the point of view of a very personable and highly influential artist.
   
   In short, I highly recommend that anyone devoted to design, be it fine art or architecture, read this book. I also recommend that you travel to San Diego to see the first major exhibition of Irwin?s work since 1993, "Robert Irwin: Primaries and Secondaries" at the MCASD through February 23rd.
   
   Note: The installation at the Dia Center was reviewed thoroughly, with an included history of the artist?s work, in an article entitled "Robert Irwin?s Doors of Perception" by Carol Diehl in Art in America magazine, December, 1999, findarticles.com



4. This is simply the best book about art I have ever read. Like other reviewers, I can say that this book permanently altered the way I see the world (and art). Irwin did it and he still does it.



5. I picked up this book in 1984 because it was on a reading list for an Art History class I was taking at Oberlin College. I stayed up all night in the library that night. I couldn't put it down. My mind has never been the same.
   
   I still often think of it,tell stories from it and give it as a gift. I always say "skip the first chapter-it gets much better." If I remember right, the book begins with a description of Irwin's perfectionism when cleaning the engine of his car. I figure that will bore my friends.
   
   I tell my students about Irwin's many years attempt to make the perfect line, to his wife's chagrin and his painting the back side of his paintings because it matters to him. They like the story of the riots that occured in South America due to the disorientation of his discs-concave and convex-the viewers couldn't tell where the wall started and the disc stopped. I have given the book as a graduation present.
   
   I thought about this book at the mechanic the other day. My engine is very, very dirty.
   
   I will never forget,forgetting. Great book.

5 comments about SuicideGirls.

1. This book is a collection of unique and beautifully shot photographs. It will make a good addition to any Suicide Girls' collection.



2. I first got this book because I wanted to perfect my artist skill on drawing the human form, aside from wanting to look at hot naked women. After I first gazed at the pages, I realized that it is more of an artsy-pin up book than a collection of nude photgraphs like the cover leads you to believe.
   I was instantly hooked and wanted to become one simply becuase of the fact that I have so much in common with girls such as Fractal, Mary, Snow, Regan, Tegan, Sicily, Voltaire, Stormy and Shera as well as countless others. Also the fact that it has a section in the back that allows you to get to know the girls is a definate bonus.
   Yet since the date of the books first publication most of the girls have left. (I.E. Tegan, Sicily, Apnea, Katie, Voltaire, Stormy and Shera ect) A 2005 article suggests that several of these models had filed claimes of breach of contract and exploitation.
   Such claimes gave way to an unsuccesful law suit which ended in favor of the owners of Suicide Girls rather than the ex-models. Yet you can still see some if not all at other alternative porn websites such as Godsgirls,Deviant Nation and Apneatic. However this does not make me love Suicide Girls any less and I still catch myself glancing at the book and drawing them, not to mention visiting the website and fantasizing of becoming a model...Well maybe if I lose at least the 20lbs that I have been needing to get off!



3. So. I've never wanted to pay for membership on the SG site, but I've always had an attraction and fascination with the whole punk/goth/indie/alternative type of look. So when this book was released, I jumped on it.
   
   - The photos aren't very artistic. They're simple and straightforward, shot with a standard digital camera.
   - It's arranged rather simply, with little or no thought to the placement of the images. (Usually two images side by side per page)
   - True, you can probably find a lot of similar images on the internet.
   - Some of the girls are absolutely beautiful, but I find some rather unattractive.
   - The quality of the pictures is rather poor, since the original intent of SG was purely online. So the change from pixels to print never translates well.
   - There's very little about the girls themselves... just short, self-written bio's on some of the girls in the back.
   - Let's be honest... you're just buying this for the boobies of cute indie chicks... and that's okay.
   
   After a couple viewings, it doesn't have a lasting effect that the likes of Tony Ward or maybe Richard Kern's work might have. Less art and more taboo. It's an inexpensive book, so if you're into the whole naked chicks with tattoos and piercing, I'd say go for it.



4. The was fine...and thats all....sorry to say
   I have been a Suicide Girls fan from the moment i stumbled across their site.
   I expected the book to make me go WOW, most of the picvtures were known to me. some were quite ordinary
   even for me....a die hard fan it was hrd to find the WOW Factor.



5. To each their own,"beauty in the eye of the beholder", & all that.I find this a bit of a yawn - funny how all this leather/tats/piercings/etc seems to symbolize having a "free mind" nowadays.You see this all the time now,these daring "non-conformists" conforming to the hipster wannabe Ideal.Seems so uninspired and well,boring.Again,to each their own.....

5 comments about Sound Design: The Expressive Power of Music, Voice and Sound Effects in Cinema.

1. The book "Sound Design", the expressive power of music, voice, and sound effects in cinema, is one of my favorite in my collection. I always recommend it to colleagues and customer. During my technical seminars-workshop and product training sessions, I have often taken inspiration from the book, particularly the sections "TRY THIS" that the author has included in various parts inside it.
   
   The book is written with great passion!



2. Sonnenschein effectively covers the theory behind shaping the soundtrack, and gives great examples of the ideas in action. I loved the candid quotes from masters like Ben Burtt, Gary Rydstrom, Walter Murch, Dane Davis, and others. I started noting down all of the films he mentions as examples of good sound design, until I noticed Sonnenschein was one step ahead and had already noted them all in the back. Only 4 stars 'cause I personally wanted more technique and a little less theory.



3. This eloquently written book describes the rhyme and reason behind all the sounds - music, effects, and dialogue - that are blended together to create the sophisticated soundtracks we're accustomed to. Sonnenschein, a director, musician, and award-winning sound designer, combines practical wisdom with sound theory and exercises to inspire and educate both new and experienced sound professionals. The book will appeal to non-professionals and other filmmakers as well because it's fun, entertaining, and enlightening. The author clearly loves and knows the world of sound and it's a joy to be brought into this world.



4. This was an interesting book, and it really gave me some new perspectives on sound design. Sonnenschein focuses on the organization and mindset of sound design, rather than the technicalities. I especially liked the excerpts from top sound designers such as Dane Davis (The Matrix, Drugstore Cowboy), Gary Rydstrom (Backdraft, Saving Private Ryan), and Ben Burtt (Star Wars, Indiana Jones).
   
   My only knock on the book is that Sonnenschein was repetitive at times. The book would be about 30 pages shorter if he didn't repeat points that were made in previous chapters. Never the less, it was an interesting read, and I still think it is a great resource.



5. I am very glad, that I found this book. It helps me think about making sound design in a very deep point of view.
   I love it!!!
   Thank you David Sonnenschein:-)
   
   Jan Sleska
   student of sound engineering

5 comments about Photographing the World Around You: A Visual Design Workshop for Film and Digital Photography.

1. I am relatively new to photography and have been struggling to master a fairly complex camera (the Nikon D300). As such, I have spent a good deal of time reading "the literature" on cameras, imaging, photography, etc. While some of this information might be of marginal utility to my ultimate success, I had grown weary of the mundane, the boring, and (especially!) the poorly written. This was my perspective when Mr. (Freeman) Patterson's book was among my latest haul from the local library. What a refreshing and pleasant surprise!
   
   Finally I am reading a book that actually makes sense to me! Here is a man who has something of real substance to say and much to contribute to my understanding of this new-found passion! Mr. (Freeman) Patterson distills a measured quantity of insightful information into brief, terse, to-the-point chapters that have been incredibly inspiring to me. He provides suggestions and alternatives that explain the "what" and the "why" as well as the "how." This is NOT one of those thinly-veiled, vain offerings that purport to teach but only contain page after page of images that are boringly similar to those of the last 'author' I happened to consult. Nor is it one of those endless 'cookbooks' that tend to spit back exactly the same content as the manual that came with the camera. No. Mr. (Freeman) Patterson skillfully incorporates a few of his own well-chosen images to enhance his text. In fact, he does this so conservatively that one image often serves to illustrate several examples -- a feature that I found especially appealing.
   
   If you wanted to see many examples of Mr. (Freeman) Patterson's work then this is not the book for you (although I see that other choices are available for this). If you wanted instruction on exactly which button, dial, or setting to use on your camera this book will not be a good choice. BUT, if you have finally gotten those dials, settings, and buttons sorted out and are really ready to start exploring that marvelous machine in your hands then I cannot recommend this book highly enough!
   
   I have decided that I cannot bear to part with this book when it must be returned to the library; shortly I will purchase my own copy (and I can say this about very, very few recent 'photography' books). In fact, I see that he has an entire set of instructional volumes similar to this one. Likely all will make it to the shelves of my library soon. I have even visited his webpage ([...]) and have discovered that he offers seminars that extend the content of this and his other instructional books. I suspect that one day I may get to meet him; I have printed off the application and brochure and now need to go in search of coins between the sofa cushions!!
   
   This book is one of a very few that I will likely want to consult regularly and reread as my photography matures. If you have managed to wade through the dribble that is so plentiful you, too, may be ready for Mr. (Freeman) Patterson.



2. This book describes how the Bauhaus/Itten principles of visual design can be applied to photography. If you are technically competent, but lack composition skills, you will find this book very useful.



3. This is an excellent book with great explanations about composition. It has many photographies to use as examples and many useful asignments. I strongly recommend it.



4. I had the good fortune to attend a day's seminar on photography conducted by the author of this book Freeman Patterson. This inspired me to buy this book, and I have found that it takes me beyond where Freeman left off at the Seminar and invites me to go hands on with the concepts he introduced to me and more. I think you should buy this book.



5. It was quite interesting to learn exactly why the photographs in this book were taken. The techniques were clever and well explained. Highly recommended.

5 comments about The Family Of Man.

1. Best photography book about we human beings covering pictures about love, marriage,birth,childhood, growing up, work, getting along, war, and old age.
   It is truly well done and my favourite for myself and to give as a gift to someone you care about, who is interested in humanity.



2. Great book! I grew up with it, and rediscovered it just now. Wonderful!!



3. This is my favorite book. I purchased it when I was 18, and loved black and white photography. I am now 65, and still see the same basic beauty in the photographs. It's not about the 1950's, or showing American culture. It shows how universal and similiar all people of all races and cultures are. It shows young children playing, people falling in love, weddings, births, hard work, wars, death, grieving, and even hope from various people and countries from our planet Earth. One family. One people. This is a collection of love, not about a specific time, or place, or our differences. This is a book that shows our skin colors, clothes, and countries may change; but we are all the same.
   



4. I first found this book at Foyle's in London, about 35 years ago, and it struck me. Since then, I bought five copies of the Family of Man, but no one remained in my home, because ever I felt the need to give this book to someone I loved or trusted.
   What is making this book so precious to me?
   First the idea itself of collecting pictures from the whole world (remember, when Steichen launched his project, the Cold War and the related hysteria was at its peak). This to demonstrate that all the human beings have to pass through the same events in their life: birth, growth, education, emotions, work, love, children, reflection, death. This apparently trivial concept leads to a conclusion by far less trivial: we all do belong to one family, our species, the humans (by the way, this thinking had not so great success in the past, nor the present seems to be more benevolent).
   The Family of Man is exactly the visual demonstration of such a concept, by comparing the same events as viewed from different geographic and cultural perspectives, by means of photos from renowned or unknown photographers (of course, the pictures from the US are prevailing in numbers for logistics and statistical reasons: it was by far more simple for an US photographer to even simply receive the news of the Steichen project than for a photographer in Rwanda or in the USSR).
   Steichen and his assistants made an impressive selection, shortlisting 503 pictures from the over 2 million they received. By the way, Steichen was a photographer, and his selection also considered the aesthetic side of the question: most of the pictures selected simply are wonderful.
   The result is this book. I think no one on this planet can miss it, because The Family of Man is representative of a large part of our culture and on our very nature.
   To give an example, in my opinion this book is at the same emotional and rational level as Homer's Odyssey, Dante's Divine Comedy, Melville's Moby Dick, primo Levi's If this is a Man, or the ancient Greek lyrics, to quote some comparisons.
   I hope it will continue to be published; we, the humans, desperately need it.



5. I am so glad Family of Man is still available. I would also suggest that in conjunction with this book, you offer Family of Women, and Family of Children.