These are some of the books I have been reading:

History:

Hirsch, Robert (2000). Seizing the light: a history of photography. McGraw-Hill.

This was the textbook for the history of photography course I took. It gave me a good sense of the past and present history, including a perspective on the current trends like postmodernism. There are enough good reproductions so that I could see visually what the author was talking about. Recommended.

Trachtenberg, Alan (ed) (1980). Classic essays on photography. Leete's.

This was the supplemental text for the history of photography course. It is a collection of pieces from the early nineteenth century (Daguerre, Fox Talbot, Edgar Allan Poe) to the "recent" past (Roland Barthes, Walter Benjamin). Many of the pieces are short excerpts that are presented without much explanation of the context in which they were written and published. This may be useful for people interested in getting a bit more of the historical perspective, but if you are really interested, I think it would be better to seek out the complete pieces from which these excerpts were taken.

How to:

Rand, Glenn & Litschel, David (2002). Black & white photography (2nd ed). Delmar.

Glenn is the instructor of the lighting course that I'm currently taking.(He is also a friend of mine.) It impresses me as an excellent text on basic photography, as applicable to color as to black & white. It gives good technical explanations of how cameras, lenses, film, and enlargers work as well as reasonable discussions of aesthetic issues of composition and communication. It includes examples of excellent b&w photography that are reproduced very well. Recommended for those seeking a basic photography text.

Uelsmann, Jerry (1985). Process and perception. University Presses of Florida.

This is certainly not a "how to" book but I've included it in this section because Uelsmann includes a section on how he works. He talks about his thought processes and shows the preliminary prints that he made along the way to a final image. The lesson I learned from this was that the creative process takes time and hard work. It is not a matter of "having it" and snapping away at the decisive moment - at least for Uelsmann. Recommended.

Criticism:

Barrett, Terry (2000). Criticizing photographs: an introduction to understanding images (3rd ed). Mayfield.

Barrett begins with what I think is a very good definition of criticism: ". . . informed discourse about art to increase appreciation of art." It is not primarily concerned with evaluation, although that is one of its functions. He then surveys the major strands of photographic criticism being published today. I found this very helpful in making sense of the other works I've been reading.

Finn, David (1994). How to look at photographs. Abrams.

I've just started this, so I can't make much comment. Finn is both a photographer and an art critic. My initial impression is very positive.

Grundberg, Andy (1999). Crisis of the real: writings on photography since 1974. Aperture.

Grundberg was photography critic for the New York Times for many years. This is a collection of his articles over a quarter of a century. I found his essays on individual photographers most useful; they helped me understand the works that I had seen in some of the photography shows I've attended. Mildly recommended.

Theory:

John Berger (1972). Ways of seeing. Penguin.

This is about art generally, not primarily photography. It is one of the classics that everyone ought to know about. Although I am not post-modern, I am post-Marxist and Berger's work does not speak loudly to me. Semi-recommended.

Patrick Maynard (1997). The engine of visualization: thinking through photography. Cornell.

Maynard is a philosopher and he thinks that he is clarifying all the muddled thinking of the past about photography. He considers photography to be a tool, specifically a tool for imagining. (That is "imagining," not "imaging.") He is strong in the analysis and explanation of the technical basis of photography from the early daguerreotypes to modern digital imaging. I've been influenced by his views, but I hesitate to recommend him to others.

Paul Messaris (1994) Visual "literacy": image, mind, and reality. Westview.

You've read about the natives who couldn't make sense of photographs when they saw their first one; people need to learn to understand visual images. Messaris debunks this view of visual literacy. The experimental evidence shows clearly that people can understand photographs without much training even if they have never seen photographs before. This is a good book if you are interested in this kind of issue.

Susan Sontag (1977). On photography. Anchor Doubleday.

I bought this and I intend to read it. It is certainly a very influential essay on photography. I won't say any more until I've read it.

Liz Wells (ed) (2000). Photography: a critical introduction (2nd ed). Routledge.

This was the first theory book I read when I started trying to learn about photography. I particularly liked the first chapter by Derrick Price and Liz Wells on "Thinking about photography: debates historically and now." The other chapters were also good; they broadened my view of what photography is. For instance, there is a chapter on personal photography which shows family albums from as early as the 1860's and ends with comments on Sally Mann. This book was certainly important for me to read when I read it, but I'm very uncertain about how strongly to recommend it to others.

Written 2002 February 1