Looking at Photographs by John Szarkowski

I am enormously pleased to pass along the news that the long-awaited, on-again off-again reprint of John Szarkowski's great book Looking at Photographs is available once more.

If I have one single favorite book about photography, this would be it. It's a modest and simple book: Szarkowski, the longtime Director of the Department of Photography at the Museum of Modern Art and a great connoisseur, picked one hundred photographs from the collection and wrote short essays about each one. The pictures are on the right-hand page, with the essays facing them on the left. None of the essays fill more than a single page. The book is a paperback, not thick and not expensive.

The essays are, if anything, as beautiful as the pictures: brief, eloquent, measured, specific, declamatory and often poetic. Reading each essay has the effect of getting you to look at the corresponding picture repeatedly, adding to the richness of your experience of it. Oddly enough, the critical perspective is not what I'd call crucial—in many cases the essays are personal, elliptical, touched off by the photographs rather than constrained entirely by them; they are not even the final word on these specific pictures, never mind all of each chosen photographer's work. And yet, strangely, after finishing the book, and reading it again, and thinking about it, you realize that a great many of photography's concerns, glories, and riddles have been touched upon along the way. Think of it not as anything definitive, but as a way of tagging along as one one sensible, erudite and articulate observer experiences great work. It's the best guided museum tour of photographs ever locked into ink.

Assuming I can get permission, I'll publish a sample image and picture from the book in a day or two, so you can get a taste of the book and decide whether you might like it.

In the large literature of photography, there are only a handful of books that photographers of every level and type could read and look at with pleasure; there are fewer that deserve the attention even of general readers. This is one, in my humble opinion. I'm very pleased it's back in print.

$26.37 at Amazon U.S.
£21.21 at Amazon U.K.

Mike
(Thanks to dolphin)

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Comments

[Ben Rosengart]

Nice review, Mike. I bought this book several years ago -- probably on your recommendation -- and it's everything you say.

Szarkowski brings a humility to his task that is inspiring to me. He is an opener of doors, a sayer of first words, not last words. I hope I won't embarrass our host by saying that I think they have that in common.

[Imants]

Reprints love to see this.....looking for a copy of Storylines by Robert Frank at a reasonable price

[Markus Spring]

This is one of the books I was happy enough to buy immediately after having seen it recommended here, and it definitely is a book to read and come back to repeatedly.
For me Szarkowski's style of writing has that wonderful balance of intellectual decisiveness without a invidious acerbity that sometimes made me reading Sontag's essays a bit bitter.

[stephen]

Crushingly, neither of the Canadian on-line sources - Amazon and Chapters/Indigo - have it available as yet. Dang!

[Doug Howk]

Two other works by Szarkowski are worth acquiring. "Mirrors and Windows" uses photographs since the 1960s to support his thesis on art as mirror of the artist or as a window onto the world."The Photographer's Eye" has brief essay on style and tradition of photographs.

[Michael]

OK. Nailed it via yr so suggestively placed link. Will prowl around the mailbox till it comes.

Keep up the good work. Shows even an old guy can still be of some use. What a relief! I'm only 63 and I was already getting worried. But you are a beacon to us all.

[Alan Rew]

As of 12:20 GMT, amazon.co.uk describe this as 'Temporarily out of stock' - hopefully your site has already benefited from some click-through sales, Mike.

[Bahi]

I got a copy after reading one of your previous raves about it on this site's predecessor some time back and I love it. It's a great pleasure and an education—thanks.

[Karl]

I read this book (well most of it) a few years ago in the hopes that it would help me understand what makes a good photography. I was disappointed. Being a new photographer I'm willing to accept that most of what is written is over my head. Perhaps my approach to the material was wrong. I read the book as a "best of" book. Put another way I don't get it but I'm willing to have another go. The worse that can happing is that I confirm what I suspect, Mr. Szarkowski and I just have different taste.

[Thiago Silva]

Hmmm, apparently not available from Amazon.ca

[robert e]

Thanks, Mike!

[Bran Everseeking]

an essay and image from the book constitutes fair use as part of a review.

I have a copy and seem to look through it at least once a month.

[Wilhelm]

Mike, I just ordered a copy of this (through your portal). Don't know how I've avoided having it in my library all these years. Thanks for reminding about it.
Rant:
Everytime I order something from Amazon I surf through my "wish list," and I'm amazed that after all these years Weston's Daybooks are still out of print. My copies are now over 40 years old and, unfortunately, softback which I'd love to replace with hardbacks.
Of all the photography books which have ever been printed, these should NEVER be allowed to go out of print.
End of rant.
Bill Mitchell (Sarasota)

[Mike Johnston]

Bill,
Agreed. Also Gisele Freund's "Photography & Society." I actually looked into trying to get that reprinted when I was at Photo Techniques. The guy I talked to at Godine said it was nearly impossible, because so many people split so many different rights, and permissions would have to be secured anew for each one of the illustrations. A shame.

If I ever win the lottery, one of the top jobs will be to make a series of reprints that comprise an "essential library of photography" and keep them all in print and available. I can think of at least two dozen books off the top of my head....

Mike

[Jeffrey Byrnes]

Thank you. Barns and Noble here I come.

[robert e]

Bill, Mike,

Weston's Daybooks (at least the paperback version) is still available from Aperture.

http://www.aperture.org/books/book-categories/essay-books/the-daybooks-of-edward-weston-paperback.html

And now on my list. Thanks.

[Steve Rosenbach]

I'm with Karl - I just returned this book to our local library - I had requrested it on Mike's recommendation. Frankly, I don't see what the fuss is all about. The cover photo is about the best image in the book, and while a quite nice photo, it's no masterpiece, IMHO.

I found some of the essays mildly interesting, but for the most part, the photos didn't move me enough to read the accompanying text.

My bottom-line reaction to the book: Of all the great and historic photographs out in the world (many of them featured on Mike's excellent website), why did MOMA choose to buy these?

Best regards,
SteveR

[Mike Johnston]

"Of all the great and historic photographs out in the world (many of them featured on Mike's excellent website), why did MOMA choose to buy these?"

If a hundred essays by one of the best writers in photography's 170-year history can't tell you, I certainly can't.

Mike

[Steve Rosenbach]

"...If a hundred essays by one of the best writers in photography's 170-year history can't tell you, I certainly can't..."

As I mentioned, I didn't read most of the text, as my initial reaction to most of the photos was extreme underwhelderment.

But because I respect your opinion and appreciate your blog (after all, I *do* keep coming back almost every day,) I'm gonna go back and really *read* the book. It couldn't hurt, and it may just open my eyes to something I can't see right now. I may have totally misunderestimated the book.

Best regards,
SteveR

[Mike Johnston]

"I'm gonna go back and really *read* the book."

Good for you Steve. Give it some soak time. I really hope you get something out of it, and I *believe* you will. Hope so, anyway.

Cheers,

Mike

[Derek]

Mike, another fine recommendation; now I'm in danger of buying altogether too many photography books just because you recommend them! I just received my copy a couple of days ago (along with the Turnley's McClellan Street and Parisians), and as far as I can tell, the book is everything you say. I've never read Szarkowski before, but I find his writing lucid, erudite, graceful, gracious, generous, and just plain funny at times. I got a good chuckle out of his comment that David Hill's painting of Scottish clergy "established Hill as one of the first artists to have converted good photography into bad painting."

Anyway, thanks again, and Steve, good on you for giving it a second go. I don't think you'll be disappointed, and I'm not even finished reading it yet!