Non-criticism/non-monograph books (was Re: [Leica] Leica Books....which to buy?)

[bdcolen at comcast.net (B. D. Colen)]

I'd urge you to go for Magnum Stories or Fat Baby, regardless of their size,
over any of the bios. Reading the bio of HCB - or any other photographer for
that matter-  is not going to improve your shooting. Absorbing Magnum
Stories or Fat Baby may. (That's not to say that reading biographies isn't
interesting, and perhaps instructive - I've just started my big Christmas
book - The Beatles, the 900 page + bio of the Fab Four. But I'm not reading
it to improve my musical ability - good luck! - or to learn how to become a
pop phenomenon; I'm reading it for enjoyment, and to better understand these
four guys who had such a huge impact on the music and society in which I
live.)


On 12/27/05 3:42 PM, "Matt Powell" <wooderson@gmail.com> wrote:

> On 12/27/05, e. nitka <enitka1@comcast.net> wrote:
>> Steve - I agree that unless you have some burning desire to know all
>> the minutae of the Leica System one is best recommended to buy
>> photography books regardless of the camera used to take those
>> pictures.
> 
> I too have wound up with a few gift certificates that need spending
> and thought I'd look to the LUG for advice. I've got criticism and
> monographs that I haven't explored to their fullest, so I'm curious
> what are the stand-outs in the vein of Magnum Stories - essays and
> writings by photographers on their process and work - or great
> bios/memoirs?
> 
> Magnum Stories looks like the clear winner, though it's on backorder
> with Amazon and unwieldly to read (kinda like Eugene Richards' Fat
> Baby - not something I can take in by bag to read before class).
> 
> The only two I have picked out are the Kershaw biography of Robert
> Capa and the slim 'history of Magnum' volume. Is the Aussoline bio of
> HCB good?
> 
> --
> MP
> wooderson@gmail.com
> 
> 
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