Photo Book Bestseller

Walker Evans: American Photographs (75th Anniversary Edition) (U.K. link) is now (in only two months) the all-time #1 bestseller through TOP's links, with 1,007 copies sold through Amazon in the U.S. (869 copies) and the U.K. (138).

Thought you'd want to know.

Mike

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Original contents copyright 2012 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved.

Question from Alan: "Is it possible for you to get sponsored links to The Book Depository? For us antipodeans, the difference that free shipping makes is often substantial. A couple of times I've gone there after following your links to Amazon and found a much better deal. And they're owned by Amazon!"

Mike replies: We are affiliates of The Book Depository, B&H Photo-Video, Amazon.com (U.S.A.), Amazon U.K., Amazon Germany, and Amazon Canada. All the links can be found any time by clicking the "Amazon Links" pane in the right-hand sidebar. And as always, thank you.

Comments

[jean-louis salvignol]

+ my copy delivered in 3 days by the Book depository, excellent service moreover, fast, reliable, and competitive. Viviane Maier is on the road.

[Indigoid]

Excited about receiving my copy! Hopefully very soon...

I also sent my father a surprise-gift copy of the O. Winston Link book. He emailed me today to say that he's loving it. We're in Australia, so it's a fascinating insight into another culture.

[Lynn]

Happy to support you, Mike! I was one of the 138. Thanks for the recommendation!

[latent_image]

Mike, I'm grateful for your TOP recommendation of American Photographs. I was aware that there was a gap in my knowledge of photo history where Evans was concerned, and I am now so glad to have this excellent edition to help fill it. Truly a seminal work in terms of modern American photography and photo book design.

[Carsten Bockermann]

>>sold through Amazon in the U.S. (869 copies) and the U.K. (138)

There must be at least one that was sold in Germany ;-)

[Josh]

I saw the offer and jumped at 20-odd dollars. Funny thing is, HCB: Photographer was still sitting in my cart with only one copy left as well… so I bought both. Got HCB, waiting another month for the Evans.

After spending half an hour going through HCB… I went out and shot a wedding that used geometry for composition like never before.

[Ed Kirkpatrick]

I got mine in the mail just the other day. Any chance I might get it signed? :)

[Keith I.]

Mine arrived two days ago. Very nice book.

[Ken James]

It is great! It is a TOP best seller for a reason. Thanks for the tip on this Mike.

[JTW]

And at least 1 in Canada ... :-)

[MBS]

So on my screen, at the bottom of this post below the affiliates disclaimer is a tiny icon, with no comment about it, that is a picture of, and link to, Jeff Schewe's book. Seems a bit of a non sequitur.

[Dennis]

I got my copy two weeks ago and can already tell it's a book I'm going to enjoy spending time with. Thanks for the recommendation Mike!

[Carl Blesch]

Got mine last Friday and enjoyed a first browse over the weekend. Thanks for the recommendation and Amazon link.

[Rob Griffin]

Mike,

I received my backordered copy yesterday. Just my first quick look through was an inspiring experience. Thanks for the heads up on this great book at a great price.

Rob

[Mike Johnston]

"There must be at least one that was sold in Germany"

Carsten,
Indeed, and thank you. For various complicated reasons, I don't track numbers at Amazon.de and Amazon.ca. Didn't mean to slight either country. Also, The Book Depository doesn't offer such metrics.

Mike

[Ben]

I got mine a few days ago and have been quite enjoying it. Thanks for the recommendation!

[Ed Hawco]

...and at least one that was sold through Amazon Canada.

[Steve Jacob]

Got mine within a week of my first order in the UK. I have spent hours looking at it.

His composition is masterful and subject matter - well exactly the same as mine oddly enough. Very hard to say which I prefer, this or Color Corrections (Ernst Haas). Could not be more different, but both deeply soothing to the neurones.

Either way, I bought them from TOP's links. Thanks Mike.

[Shaun O'Boyle]

A great book, beautiful printing and binding, and great fun to compare with my timeworn but still treasured copy of the first edition.

[Ken Jarecke]

I went to purchase this book and a reviewer said the reproductions weren't very good.

Is this true? I really want this book, but poor repro is a deal breaker.

Thanks,

Ken

[burt]

Mine arrived a couple of days ago. It's great to see something like this get such an enthusiastic response.

[Mike Johnston]

"I went to purchase this book and a reviewer said the reproductions weren't very good. Is this true? I really want this book, but poor repro is a deal breaker."

Ken,
Here are the differences I notice between the 50th Anniversary Edition and the new 75th Anniversary edition: The paper in the 75th is considerably thicker and the boards considerably thinner. Book size, page proportions, cropping, and image sizes are the same.

The reproduction quality is extremely close between the two books. I compared eight pictures at length side-by-side. The differences I saw are that the new edition has a somewhat longer tonal scale, with more separation in the shadows, darker midtones, and more detail in many highlights. These are slight differences and may not be immediately apparent. The difference that does exist suits some pictures a little better and others a little worse. The only way I could call the 75th "worse" than the 50th is that in a few cases the local contrast in the middle values is a little higher in the older edition, making a few subjects, like the occasional face (but not all the faces)--such as plate 40 of part I--look a little "sharper." Again, the difference is slight.

I'd call the reproduction quality in both books very good but not excellent or outstanding. My book collection isn't rich enough in Walker Evans to enable me to recommend the book with the best reproduction quality for his photographs; all I have is Szarkowski's 1971 MoMA catalog, and the repro in that is no better although the pictures are a little larger. My feeling is that the reproduction quality in the 75th Anniversary is not a reason to avoid the book by any means.

Mike

[scott kirkpatrick]

Thanks for pointing out your affiliation with the Book Depository. I use them often but hadn't realized I could go thru TOP. Will do so in the future.

scott

[David Lonsdale]

Thanks for the heads-up, Mike. One of the UK 138 and losing myself in Evans' images. Pity I have to go to work, pity the drains need unblocking, pity the kids need feeding...

[Alan]

Thanks for the reply Mike. I usually read the posts in a reader. I'll come to the site from now on when I'm buying. Cheers, Alan.

[Robin Dreyer]

Well deserved. It's a beautiful book.

[Zeeman]

I received my copy three days ago. It has helped me look at Walker Evans in a different light. Before this, I only looked at individual photos of his in passing, and only on the web at that. As a result, I held the misconception that his FSA photographs, which seem over-represented on the web, were accurate and comprehensive representations of his work. An afternoon with this book showed me I was mistaken.

Thank you, Mike, for highlighting this book on your blog.

[Marc D]

Coincidentally, or maybe not, the “Photographische Sammlung, Stiftung SK Kultur” in Cologne is showing “Walker Evans. Decade by Decade“ at the moment, which I went and saw today.

It is an interesting show which made me appreciate the breath of his work beyond the classics in “American Photographs”.

Since the print quality of the book is subject to discussion, the quality of the prints shown was varied, between “very vintage” and “great”. So the print quality of the books compares favorably to a lot of the particular prints shown. That did not diminish their impact of course.

And I found it almost spooky, how much the Polaroids he shot late in his life and the only work in color anticipate the whole iPhonography/Instagram aesthetic.

Recommended.

[cidereye]

Many thanks Mike for posting this, I'd all but forgotten about it's release a month ago after making a mental note to purchase on it's release but your timely reminder had me running straight to your Amazon link and ordering a copy. Phew, got a copy! :-)

[Hendrik]

People asking about the BD links does make you think about the effectiveness of the "buy through our links" ad on the site, don't it. Personally I think it has the attractiveness of--to quote a wonderful piece of music from the early 70ies (check the HQ utube vid)--Mouldy Old Dough. I once searched the site for a full five minutes for info on these links until it finally jumped at me, slo-mo sort of jump.

Btw the text the ad links to still does not answer a question I put up about a month ago: What about stuff I already have on my Amazon wishlist but put into the cart from your link? As I do most of my shopping from it, at least to me its a pertinent question (I'm obviously not much of an impulse buyer.).

[Ken Jarecke]

Thank you, MIke for the in depth information on the reproduction quality of this book. Sounds like it's well worth the money.

Ken