The Photographic Eye Textbook

[Ellington Walford]

Whatyou may not know, is that many of them have been the catalyst that got me to go to some of the places I now know and love so well. Galen Rowell's 'Mountain Light' for instance inspired me to go all the way to Patagonia to witness for myself the grandness of Torres del Paine's stunning landscape.

I love how photography books can instil a sense of wonder and inspire me in my own photographic pursuits, but they can also take me inside myself for an hour or two where I feel I connect with my creative self. Give me a good book of images and I'm lost, entranced. Time becomes irrelevant, as too does the past or future. All that matters is the present moment - how I interact and feel about the work I'm viewing.

When I received the book, I thought I'd have a short glimpse through it, but I got so caught up in the landscape, my quick few seconds to look through it extended to over an hour. I lost myself in the landscape and Strand reminded me that Iceland is still relatively untouched, unknown and un-photographed. He takes us on a very different journey through the landscapes of Iceland. His book shows us the abstract nature of many unknown locations from the air as well as the ground: sometimes at a very disconnected (read satellite view) and other times at a more intimate vantage point, just hovering a few hundred feet above.

Indeed, places like the Landmannalaugar region of the fabulous Fjallabak area of Iceland are perhaps best photographed from up high. With its rhyolite and green moss hillsides intermixed with snow that remains until the very tail end of the summer, there are fabulous patterns to be enjoyed - more so if one has a helicopter. I think his images of the Landmannalaugar region are perhaps some of the strongest in this book: because they successfully capture what I see in my own mind's eye when I am there myself but am unable to capture. They are also beautifully abstract and well composed images. More art than document.

But why would anyone want to own a photographic monograph? I ask this, because over the years I've been writing about some of my favourite books, I've had emails from readers of this blog who have either told me that:

2) or that they only wish to buy a book if there is text inside which explains how the images were created (and therefore missing out on what can be learned by just studying and enjoying someone's work)

Ultimately, photography books like Strand's allow us to connect to our creative selves: if I can't get outside to make photos, then sitting gazing upon a beautifully printed book is the next best thing. In this regard, Strand's book is one of the nicest, and inspiring books on Iceland that I've seen in a while.

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Andrea Hart, Library Special Collections Manager at the Museum, says, 'With the introduction of photography, you get a whole new opening up of how natural history and science can be presented in print.

'Before Atkins's book on British algae and the photographic process, botanical images would have been restricted to the traditional printing processes of engraving or woodcuts, although the art of nature printing was also in its early stages around Atkins's time.'

'She lost her mother very early in life and as a result formed a close bond with her father,' Andrea says. 'Her father was a well-respected scientist and the first president of the Royal Entomological Society of London, which in turn opened doors for Anna to participate in science that would not have been possible for many women at that time.'

Women were restricted from professionally practising science for most of the nineteenth century as it was an area dominated by men. Botany, however, was a subject that was accessible to all - in particular botanical art and illustration, which were considered a suitably genteel hobby for women.

Prior to pursuing her botanical interests, in her early twenties she completed 256 scientifically accurate drawings of shells, which were published in her father's English translation of Jean Baptiste de Lamarck's catalogue titled Genera of Shells (1822-24). This volume of delicate watercolour and graphite illustrations is now held in the Museum's Library.

Herbarium sheet showing seed plants specimens collected by Anna. In this case a single sheet is shared with her father John Children and close childhood friend Anna Dixon, a distant cousin to Jane Austen.

The couple were also closely acquainted with William Henry Fox Talbot, who invented the photographic process. Anna received a camera in 1841, though none of her works that used this apparatus have survived.

'It just shows what a brilliant, creative and innovative mind Anna had to apply this brand new process to botanical specimens. But it's important to remember that she wasn't working in isolation.' Andrea says.

'She had access to a scientific education from an early age as well as having connections to and influences from other scientists and experts - but also attended meetings, including those at the Royal Society, where innovations around science and photography were being discussed.'

Anna's self-published her detailed and meticulous botanical images using the cyanotype photographic process in her 1843 book, Photographs of British Algae: Cyanotype Impressions. With a limited number of copies, it was the first book ever to be printed and illustrated by photography.

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The first photographic books made their appearance in the 1840s, not long after photography's invention. Yet it was only at the end of the nineteenth century, when it became possible to combine photographic reproductions and text on the same printed page, that the era of the photographic book was truly launched. The Open Book chronicles the art of the photographic book from that moment to the present. It presents more than 130 of the most significant examples of the genre, produced by such diverse figures as El Lissitzky, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Walker Evans, Daido Moriyama, Mary Ellen Mark, Bruce Weber, and Richard Prince.

The books shown here were chosen by a remarkable international jury: curator Ute Eskildsen of the Museum Folkwang in Essen, Germany; curator Hasse Persson of the Hasselblad Center in Gothenburg, Sweden; fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld; rare book specialist Andrew Roth; media consultant Christoph Schifferli; Interview magazine editor Ingrid Sischy; and book publisher Gerhard Steidl. Their selection was based on such criteria as photographic content, reproduction quality, choice of paper stock, graphic layout, typography, binding, and dust-jacket design, as well as the work's importance in the history of photography. Concepts such as originality and beauty also played decisive roles, as did the photographer's personal contribution to the production of the book. Together, the books shown here trace the development of a new visual territorya space where words and photographic images meet in surprising and ever-changing configurations.

CORAL is a tribute to coral as an ecosystem essential to our survival. It tells the story of the rebirth of an Indonesian fishing village. Having become actors in the restoration of the coral reefs that surround them, these fishermen are today the guarantors of the safeguarding of their resources.

The photographic bookCORAlL is an immersion into the fragile world of coral and the communities that depend on it. It reflects solidarity, respect and the connection to living things. A world that is at once raw, real and dreamlike. This book is therefore situated between art and documentary.

By staging strong, often spectacular images, Martin Colognoli, French photographer, calls for safeguarding these emblematic ecosystems through a report which retraces six years of field experience.

A true hymn to the defense of biodiversity and a tribute to coral as an ecosystem essential to our survival.

CORALis a tribute to coral as an ecosystem essential to our survival. It tells the story of the rebirth of an Indonesian fishing village. Having become actors in the restoration of the coral reefs that surround them, these fishermen are today the guarantors of the safeguarding of their resources. By staging strong, often spectacular images, this first book by Martin Colognoli, including the approach oscillates between the documentary and the artistic, is thus a hymn to the defense of biodiversity. 30 million friends, 5* from the editorial team.

A beautiful photographic book that embodies and supports the inextricable link between an Indonesian fishing village and the coral reef. Savoir-animal, the animal magazine

The photographic book moves your story, your images, and your vision into a powerful space where the viewer can interact with and experience your photographs authentically. Photographers, educators, and published authors Laurie Klein and Kate Jordahl will guide you in creating your own book project through discussions, in-depth feedback, and examples. Each of these exceptional mentors/teachers will bring her experience in realizing book projects to help you on your journey toward your own publication.

"40" is about a personal journey to a country which does not exist. This is a photographic book and personal diary of a journey by British/Polish visual artist Tomasz Laczny during his visit to the Saharawi refugee camps in 2016.

"The book contains a combination of photographs from the camps as well as graphics based on satellite images of the camps from space. There are two titles for this book '40' which refers to the number of years the Saharawi people have been waiting to return to their homeland and 'The place which does not exist' (in Arabic') which refers to their current political status." - Tomasz Laczny (www.tomasz-laczny.com)

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