New Leica book

[brett_davis1]

Just saw a new book, "Leica: Witness to a Century" at a Barnes &

Noble. It was shrink-wrapped so I couldn't paw through it, which is

of course the idea. Looks interesting, though. Here's an Amazon link,

which includes a so-so review:

 

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0393059219/102-5087735-

1923343?v=glance&s=books

[matt_chamberlain]

Now don't get me wrong, I am no Emily Post, but at my local B&N it is ok to take the shrink wrap off new arrivals. I do it when I just hafta thumb through a new title. I'll be back in the states here in a few days and I'm going to try to locate this one right away.

[brett_davis1]

Well, I just happened to spy it while it was still on the book cart ... not even on the shelf yet!

[frank_meeker]

I bought the book last Friday and it is quite good. It gives an overview of the camera line but focuses more on the images and history that Leica camera have seen, from the UR images made by Barnack to the Che image to more modern images. It goes from the Ur to the current MP. I recommend it to all who are interested in what the line of cameras has captured rather than lens charts and performance data.

 

Best regards,

 

Frank M.

[david j.lee]

i friend just lend me a leica book from 1951 ( 12th edition. the first one was

from 1935). there was a photograph that i liked a lot,taken at the ny subway,by

a certain stanley kubrick," leica photographer". not a bad read,but i am

looking forward for this one!!

thanks for the information,brett...

[albert_smith]

I just bought the book today. I bought it sight unseen since the one and only copy at B&N had the shrink-wrap, and I left it on.

 

Basically, it is not a bad book. I certainly have paid more for less as far as books go, especially some smaller books from Hove on the Leica that looked better in the advertisements than in the hand. The one basic problem is the proposed scope of the book. The book is too small to cover such a long period of photography with the Leica. It forces some sections to be way under represented, and some others getting more attention than most might want (assuming an average age of the reader).

 

There are some nice photos, including seen-to-death ones we might expect in a book on Leica photography. There are also some I have never seen that are interesting. For example, a candid from the late 1960s of astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin in civilian clothes just eating from trays in some cafeteria, which is a contrast from the Life magazine �astronauts as bigger than life heroes� photographs that I remember from that time. There is also a neat group shot from the 1950s of the Magnum group, where you can see people like a young Elliot Erwitt and HCB.

 

On the down-side, as far as the photographers� work presented, some of the images are not at a level that would show the photographer (or the Leica) at its best. There is a pretty weak Jim Marshall photo of the Beatles (a too wide snap-shot), where I would have loved to see one of his killer Hendrix shots. The uninitiated might not see anything special in some of the work shown, while those that know the photographers and their work might wonder how the selection process was made.

 

In terms of technical stuff, it is rudimentary. There are some photos of various incarnations of the Leica, with explanations of why this or that particular model is important. Even this leads one to wonder how models were chosen. They go right from the M3 to the M4, and no M2, which allowed for the 35mm lens to be used with ease.

 

Overall, after getting it home and unwrapping it, I�d still buy it.