My currently most desired book:
Eyes Wide Open: 100 Years of Leica Photography
I am probably not going to indulge in this, alas. (I already have this, not to mention this, and you can't have everything.)
Anybody have it? I'd love to hear about it.
No spell
This is the book I actually bought for myself this month:
Martin Munkacsi
When I was at MoMA last month we stopped by the new-to-me bookstore (they've moved it since I was last there). S. was being particularly patient with me (because she loves books too and understands), but I was trying to be considerate to her—so I zoomed through a large number of books in record time.
Of all the ones I saw, this was the one I decided to get. Munkacsi is a photographer a) whose name I never could spell, much less pronounce, and b) who I've never known much about but have always wanted to get to grips with. I've always been aware of him, specifically because—famously—it was seeing a particular one of his pictures (this one) that H.C.-B. said inspired him to become a photographer.
I've not cracked the munkacsifent tome since it arrived at TOP Secret Underground World HQ yesterday, but I get to do so later today.
Mike
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Featured Comments from:
yz: "Munkácsi was Hungarian and the proper pronunciation of his name is like: MOON-kah-chee."
Damn you sir! I just received the last two Steidl books you recommend. You may well put me in the poor house this month.
Posted by: Chad Thompson | Sunday, 15 February 2015 at 06:44 PM
Not knowing about this book, I recently bought a copy of the Aperture issue about Munkasci. It was only a few dollars in like-new condition. It has a really excellent biography, and all(?)of the best of his work.
Definitely the way to go.
Posted by: Bill Mitchell | Sunday, 15 February 2015 at 11:10 PM
Always seemed strange to me that Barnack's name for his new apparatus was Leica instead of Leika - Leitz/Kamera.
Posted by: Michael Martin-Morgan | Monday, 16 February 2015 at 09:17 AM
Saw the Munkacsi show in San Francisco, SFMOMA, back in 2007 or 2008 (can't remember), there was really something about his work that I found interesting, so much more than a lot of the other magazine photographers of the day. Studied his work in school, but seeing it 'live' was the kicker...
Posted by: Crabby Umbo | Monday, 16 February 2015 at 01:40 PM
I've seen the Leica book in German. A good friend of mine who has a number of pictures in the book was in Hamburg for the opening of the show that this is essentially the catalog for and brought back a copy. I will definitely get is as soon as it's available. It's very well done and quite extensive, giving a good overview on how the Leica was used during the last hundred years.
I wonder if there will ever be such a camera/paradigm shift/retrospective of a digital camera.
Henning
Posted by: Henning | Monday, 16 February 2015 at 04:58 PM
A vintage print of the image you linked -the one that inspired HCB- just sold at Sotheby's in December for $197,000 to collector Michael Mattis. Michael joyfully commented on the HCB connection. I believe this was a record for Munkacsi's work.
Posted by: Jeff | Tuesday, 17 February 2015 at 10:30 PM