Bestsellers Up to the Minute

 
Matt Weber, NYC 1991, from The Urban Prisoner

What our readers are buying so far this quarter. Just counting Amazon and Amazon U.K., shipped books only (pending orders not counted):

Andre Kertesz (Editions Hazan) (U.K. link), 173 copies

The Urban Prisoner: Photographs by Matt Weber (not available in the U.K.), 32 copies

Ernst Haas: Color Correction (U.K. link), 145 copies

Koudelka: Gypsies (U.K. link), 198 copies. British publisher Thames & Hudson isn't shipping to the U.K. yet, so that's U.S. only. Aperture is the publisher here. (Incredibly, I couldn't get Aperture to email me a few public relations JPEGs for our article—even though they told me they have them prepared and ready to go. I even made a toll call to their PR Department to request them. Web publications get no respect, I tells ya, no respect at all.)

The Practice of Contemplative Photography: Seeing the World with Fresh Eyes, (U.K. link), 31 copies.

A spread from Ernst Haas: Color Correction, which makes a great
companion piece to Saul Leiter's Early Color

For links for others countries and to The Book Depository, see here.

Mike

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Original contents copyright 2011 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved.

Featured Comment by Jeffrey Goggin: "Geez...I'm five for five! I have to slow down on buying books...one of these days."

Comments

[The Lazy Aussie]

Yair I should get the Kertesz and the Haas.And I will eventually. I find it's great to kickstart a photo session with a quick look at the masters, Kertesz for B&W and Haas for colour. I've just taken my first film shot for at least a decade, dragging the ole 1965 Autocord twinlens from a damp shed. It works perfectly! I really never thought I'd shoot film again. And for inspiration it had to be Hass and K. Here's my first real film shot since 2000.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lazyaussie/6151987327/in/photostream
I also tested a roll of kodak transparency, and the colour was so magnificent, I have already ordered more rolls.
And the difficulty of using the stupid twinlens was almost pleasurable. It's a dumbarse machine that gives superb results only under the most stringent and ridiculous conditions. Love it.

[Dale Greer]

Mike,

Thanks for keeping me apprised of these excellent photo books! They continue to provide countless hours of enjoyment.

I feel the need, however, to warn folks that Amazon's packing standards have slipped quite a bit in the past few years. Books are no longer shrink-wrapped to a cardboard "foundation" but are instead simply tossed in the shipping carton and allowed to slide freely around the box during transit.

Recent purchases of "Henri Cartier-Bresson/Photographer", "Ernst Haas - Color Correction" and Bruce Davidson's "Outside/Inside" all suffered shipping damage (mostly crushed corners on the boards).

These are expensive books, but my experience has proven that returning them for exchange will likely result in no improvement (I returned one book three times last year because of in-transit damage, and each new version was worse than the last). Sadly, I've simply chosen to accept their condition as the only way I can have access to these kinds of titles.

Books, it seems, are something of an afterthought at Amazon these days, and book buyers are simply taken for granted.

Best,

Dale Greer

[Bernd Reinhardt]

I was surprised how similar some of Ernst Haas's photographs are to those of Saul Leiter. Also, anyone who thinks of Ernst Haas only as a great color photographer should look at his black and white work. I have always been a big fan of Ernst Haas and own many of his now rare books and I hav again realized that as much credit Ernst Haas gets for being "the father of color photography," he is still underrated.

Color, black and white, portraits, street! Maybe he was just too good at too many things to really deserve the credit he deserves.

[Enrique]

Great choice of photo for the post. Somehow you pick pics that make me want to know more about the author, which doesnt's happen very often. Thanks.

[marc]

You should add a link to Amazon Spain, now that it has started selling in our country. I guess you have a sizeable audience here.

[Nicholas Condon]

I'm sorry, Mike, but is that really a cat picture just below the headline of this story? Really? Here?! Okay, yes, it's a uniquely interesting cat picture by a great photographer, but still, what's next? Color photos of flowers?

[Rodolfo Canet]

I popped in to suggest a link to the new Amazon Spain, but I see my compatriot Marc did before. I, for one, will be more than happy to do all my buying through your site. We won't make you rich, but I guess everything counts.

Please don't publish this, Mike, as it's only a support message for my compatriot's suggestion.

[Gavin McLelland]

Mike
My UK Thames & Hudson Koudelka arrived today 26th September. Shipping has started!

Gavin

[Paris]

I don't buy a lot of equipment, because in my old age I have finally really, deeply in-my-soul accepted that a new doo-dad might make my pictures sharper, but will not make them any better.
Books, however, are another thing altogether. I just buy whatever Mike tells me to buy, because if I don't, the book sells out and that makes me sad.
Resistance is futile.
Dale Greer is correct, however. My copy of "Within the Stone" arrived in a big box completely without padding. Luckily it survived, but I'm going to write Amazon a strongly worded letter.

[Kostas]

I've always wondered how honest Amazon are with these affiliate links, since you don't have any way of verifying that they are giving you the correct commission.

Anyway, I just ordered the 4 books that are available in the UK following your instructions (went to Amazon.co.uk from the 1st link above, and then searched & added the other books in the same session, and completed the purchase at the same time).