Photo Icons I
Although there is nothing here about India, Photo Icons is one of the best single books on photography available today. Each of its 20 well-written essays decodes a single historical photograph using fresh historical research and profound insight.
Many of the chapters deal with French photography, source of some of the most thought-provoking early images. There is an essay on the Niepce picture taken from his study window in 1827, more than a decade before than the usually accepted birth of photography in 1838. That year is covered in a brilliant piece on the deserted Paris of Daguerre's Boulevard du Temple.
There is an essay on how photography helped make Sarah Bernhardt one of the most famous performers in the 19th century. Another piece covers the executed Emperor Maximilian's shirt. One examines a portrait of Bismarck taken on his deathbed. Others cover photographs by luminaries like Alfred Stieglitz, Paul Strand and Man Ray. Together these pieces remind us of how revelatory and powerful early photography was to viewer and maker alike.
Best of all, like most Taschen books, this profusely illustrated paperback is remarkably inexpensive.
book types
- Photography (45)
- Photographer (5)
- History (25)
- Fiction (7)
- photo theme (6)
monsoon
s. The name given to the periodical winds of the Indian seas, and of the seasons which they affect and characterize.