Best Sellers of 2009

Here are the ten books that were the most popular among readers buying through our U.S. and U.K. Amazon links in 2009.

It's not easy to count, but I would guess that you—a collective "you"—bought roughly 5,000 different titles in 2009. By far the lion's share of those titles sold between one and ten copies each. A few, however, mainly because of reviews we published, far outpaced the average.

Don't think, however, that we can necessarily drive sales on purpose. Some of the books I "plugged" in 2009 didn't do well with readers. To give you a concrete example, of the four books I recommended two days ago, on Tuesday, Thomas Ruff's jpegs sold six copies, and First Light sold 54 copies. Your collective taste and interests play a big part in what does well.

In general, less expensive books tend to sell more than more expensive ones; technical books tend to sell better than picture books, because they're seen as being more practical and taste plays less of a part; and there are some cultural variations: Simon Roberts' We English and Jane Bown's Exposures sold much better in the U.K. than in the U.S., and books of U.S. western landscape photography, beloved of Americans, generally leave European readers unimpressed.

The number of copies sold follows each title. The number should be considered approximate, because I got lazy and did not check sales of these titles from Amazon Germany and Amazon Canada.

The list:

1. Looking at Photographs: 100 Pictures from the Collection of The Museum of Modern Art by John Szarkowski (Museum of Modern Art) (U.K. link) (466 copies purchased). By far our best-selling title, probably because I named it as one of my all-time favorite photography books and the "basic primer" that I think anyone who is seriously interested in photography should own. A fine, simple, discursive introduction to the history of accomplishment in the medium, effortlessly (and painlessly!) incorporating a great number of accepted critical principles, and providing a de facto object lesson in how a great connoisseur approaches fine photographs.

2. Real World Image Sharpening with Adobe Photoshop, Camera Raw, and Lightroom (2nd Edition) by  Bruce Fraser and Jeff Schewe (Peachpit Press) (U.K. link) (203 copies purchased).

Gary Stochl by Peter Thompson

3. On City Streets: Chicago, 1964-2004 by Gary Stochl (Center for American Places) (U.K. link) (138 copies purchased). Brought to your—and our—attention by Ken Tanaka, this modest little book was extremely popular with our readers. Gary Stochl worked for many decades in complete obscurity before being discovered and championed by photographer Bob Thall of Columbia College Chicago.

4. Landscape Beyond: A Journey into Photography by David Ward (Argentum [U.K.] / Aurum Press [U.S.]) (U.K. link) (136 copies purchased). 

Greenberg Gallery's Eye Mind Spirit marked the 100th anniversary of White's birth

5. Eye Mind Spirit: The Enduring Legacy of Minor White by Minor White, Peter Bunnell, and Nathan Lyons (Howard Greenberg Gallery) (134 copies purchased). Now out of print.

6. Light: Science and Magic: An Introduction to Photographic Lighting (3rd Edition) by Fil Hunter, Steven Biver, and Paul Fuqua (Focal Press) (U.K. link) (118 copies purchased). Longtime classic that is probably the top-ranking basic text about the fundamentals of lighting.

7. Minimalist Lighting: Professional Techniques for Location Photography by our friend Kirk Tuck. (Amherst Media) (U.K. link) (116 copies purchased in 2009). The only repeat champion on this year's list, Minimalist Lighting was also one of 2008's top sellers.

8. The Printed Picture by Richard Benson (Museum of Modern Art) (U.K. link) (114 copies purchased). Our Book of the Year 2008. A great basic introduction to the many types of photographic prints and reproduction methods, notable for its abundant illustrations. 

Erwin Olaf, The Hallway, 2005, featured in PHOTO:BOX

9. PHOTO:BOX by Roberto Koch (Thames & Hudson [U.K.] / Abrams [U.S.]) (U.K. link. Note that you have to search "Photobox" in the U.K., with no colon.) (91 copies purchased). A particularly fine—and inexpensive—sampler of excellent photographs by many different photographers, with commentary of a surprisingly high standard. Translated from the Italian.

10. Photowisdom: Master Photographers and Their Art by Lewis Blackwell (PQ Blackwell) (U.K. link) (77 copies purchased). Another, more sophisticated sampler, featuring more "hot right now" photographers, who made their own selections from their own work. The most deluxe of the books on this list, and a good bargain for the asking price.

• • •

Hard to know when to stop the festivities—the next ten titles on the list are as interesting as these. But we gotta stop somewhere, and I'm a base ten kinda guy. Happy New Year's Eve to all, and please drive carefully tonight whether you imbibe or not!

Mike

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Comments

[Jeff]

Sorry to hear you lack the Oprah effect.

But, thanks for giving us some great reading on this site during the last year.

Happy and healthy new year.

[Christian]

I am a proud owner of one of these fine volumes (Photo:Box) received as a Christmas gift presumably through your link (which I provided with my wishlist upon being asked to come up with one).

I've also got some new books you didnt recommend (c'mon, Mike, can't you make a comprehensive recommendations list of EVERY GOOD+ ("good" or better) photo picture book as well as photo technique book ever written? It seems scandalous that Eggleston's Guide isn't on your latest list of recommendations (I can't claim to be sure you've never recommended it).

Any list that is not 100% thorough is useless. Heck, ideally you'd review and rate (I know how you love ratings systems) every photo-related book ever printed and not just lazily limit yourself to ones you recommend.

We don't expect a lot from you here at TOP, so I don't feel like this is much at all to ask.

(To be sincere for a moment, your reviews, descriptions, and recommendations are always very helpful to me not to mention being quite interesting in their own right. Thank you for the continual dedication and hard work)

[Marc Rochkind]

Mike--

I just got the most wonderful idea! Buy one each of these 10 books and store them carefully away for, say, 30 years, and ...

[Anyway, Happy New Year! Reading T.O.P. is always one of the highlights of my day. I'm very pleased that I was even able to make a couple of contributions.]

--Marc

[Mike Johnston]

Marc,
Thanks. And you know, it's kind of interesting, but only two of these books would possibly qualify as "investment grade"--nos. 3 and 5. And maybe not them. None of the rest are likely to be the kind of thing that would appreciate....

Mike

[Evan]

Personally, I'm curious about jpegs, but I can't tell without holding it whether I would find it gimmicky or revealing. It's such a departure from "standard" photography that, for me, it's hard to judge over the web - whereas when I can see web reproductions, and have the assurances of someone I trust on picture quality, I feel like I know what I'm going to get from a more traditional photo book.

[Robin Dreyer]

Happy New Year, Mike. Thanks for everything.

[Mike Johnston]

Good point Evan, and completely understood. I need to write a post about the perils of book buying on the internet. I've been burned a time or two.

Mike

[GKFroehlich]

Mike,
"...a base ten kinda guy."

You know what they say. There are 10 kinds of people in the world -- those who think in binary, and those who don't.

Happy New Year!
-gkf-

[kirk tuck]

It seems plainly obvious to me that book number 7 is highly collectible!!! Well. Maybe I'm biased.....

Seriously though, Thank you Michael....and fellow readers.

Kirk Tuck

[Ed Kirkpatrick]

Thanks for turning me on to "What The Duck" Quacks me up.... sorry

I did buy the sharpening book too and want Kirk Tucks book, but so many books so few moments to read.

[Chris Bertram]

Many thanks for recommending The Printed Picture, from which I have learnt so much. A beautiful book, but a consistently interesting one too.

[Juha Haataja]

Thanks for posting the excellent list. I only had #1 - a great book - so I went and ordered #3 and #9.

I ordered two other books at the same time: "Within the Frame: The Journey of Photographic Vision" by David DuChemin and "Saul Leiter" by
Max Kozloff.

Thanks for bringing up great books on photography.

[Charles Hueter]

Numbers 9 and 10 are now in my possession via St. Nick and I'm happy to say so far TOP's comments on them have proven correct. :)