terry_rory Posted July 5, 2006 Share Posted July 5, 2006 Thanks Andrew. I have borrowed a copy of 'Perspectives' by Don Mccullin a number of times in the past from the local library. (Cannot seem to get my own copy second hand) This is a version of 'Homecoming' I think. I always end up reading his essay and am impressed by his humility in exposing his worries about photographing people who are destitute/suffering/traumatised. I think he suffers almost as much. I scored a good American copy of his 'Open skies' book a couple of years ago for about 45 quid because i love the Mendip hills and the Somerset levels and I enjoy his 'dark' landscapes of this part of Somerset. (Many don't) He has (and communicates) a real feel for the legends surrounding the place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terry_rory Posted July 5, 2006 Share Posted July 5, 2006 I also have high praise for 'Shipping forecast' by Mark Power but I suspect that is going to get me grief from Boris or others as Mark Power seems to anger some people as much as Martin Parr angers others. (Who I also like a lot so more trouble for me!) If I could only have UK landscapes by two photographers it would have to be the 'Land' trilogy by Fay Godwin and 'Literary Britain' by Bill Brandt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terry_rory Posted July 5, 2006 Share Posted July 5, 2006 We are way OT now. Sorry Andrew. Looking forward to getting my 'Early Colors' tomorrow morning. Amazon UK did say 24hrs. There you are. Back on topic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andrewlamb Posted July 5, 2006 Author Share Posted July 5, 2006 I've got a copy of 'The Shipping forecast'. I really like it. I'm curious about the adverse reaction that mentioning Mark Power might cause. The book is a nice balance of traditional and modern landscape. It's not one to cause mass indignation is it? I haven't got many other landscape books as it's not really an area I'm interested in. 'Homecoming' is documentary photography, focussing on the more deprived sections of society and taken largely in the '70s although one or two shots from the very early '60s have sneaked in. Huge chunks of it are shockingly bleak and it's a sad reminder that we're not really seeing this kind of reportage in our newspapers or magazines anymore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boris c hann Posted July 5, 2006 Share Posted July 5, 2006 "I also have high praise for 'Shipping forecast' by Mark Power but I suspect that is going to get me grief from Boris or others as Mark Power seems to anger some people" Could a photographer as bland as Mark Power actually induce something as strong as anger? Indifference seems more likely. The same goes for his stablemate Peter Marlow, though I wouldn't want to stop either politely going about their dull and pointless (maybe not so pointless, they both do well from the corporate dollar) business. I certainly wouldn't let my mild disregard for those two cloud my view of Brit photography. In Paul Graham, Richard Billingham, Chris Killip, and Graham Smith you've got more than your fair share of major league contemporary photographers. If you're in the mood for buying books Trevor, why not take a reckless punt on Graham's American Night? You'll end up thanking me for it.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andrewlamb Posted July 5, 2006 Author Share Posted July 5, 2006 Trevor, in case you win the lottery. http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0333174798/202-0353826-3314246? v=glance&n=266239 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boris c hann Posted July 5, 2006 Share Posted July 5, 2006 In around 1984 I bought a copy of Homecoming for around two pounds fifty on Charing Cross Road - clearly I should have bought a lot more. There were huge remaindered piles of the book. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terry_rory Posted July 5, 2006 Share Posted July 5, 2006 "I'm curious about the adverse reaction that mentioning Mark Power might cause" I think Boris just answered you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terry_rory Posted July 5, 2006 Share Posted July 5, 2006 "Huge chunks of it are shockingly bleak and it's a sad reminder that we're not really seeing this kind of reportage in our newspapers or magazines anymore." The reason is that 'Lifestyle' and gardening and Cookery sells more newspapers. Seriously Andrew, you probably know far better than I do (being in the industry) why this sort of thing does not go down well with editors of newspapers and magazines. It is a sad state of affairs. Given that in 1945 Lee Miller was able to publish some of the first photos of the concentration camp victims in Vogue (!) and yet in modern day Britain a photographer like Don Mccullin is 'black listed' from having his photos published in any of the Murdoch empire's newspapers. (Ever since he was 'sacked' from the Times and the government issued instructions to the armed forces to not knowingly allow him anywhere near any conflict they were involved in.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andrewlamb Posted July 5, 2006 Author Share Posted July 5, 2006 Agree about Marlow. 'Shipping Forecast' bland? Perhaps, but I still like it. Whether it's because I have a soft spot for hearing the shipping forecast on Radio 4 or not I don't know. Let's be honest, the subject matter slightly mitigates against it being as gripping as, say, 'Ray's A Laugh'. But then I can hear Boris saying Eggleston could do the subject justice. True, but there is only one WE. Maybe you have to look at it whilst listening to 'Peter Grimes' or 'Sailing By'. Or maybe you need to have spent many forlorn summers by the English seaside. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andrewlamb Posted July 5, 2006 Author Share Posted July 5, 2006 "In around 1984 I bought a copy of Homecoming for around two pounds fifty on Charing Cross Road - clearly I should have bought a lot more. There were huge remaindered piles of the book." Yes, but do you like it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boris c hann Posted July 5, 2006 Share Posted July 5, 2006 Do I like it? Of course. Again there's a purity to it. I also rate his conflict coverage very highly - 40 years on it makes Nachtwey look like a very marginal footnote in photo history. Regarding the Shipping Forecast being a less than edgy topic, that's true, but it doesn't automatically follow that the vision has to be toothless. The same could be said of Soth's subjects but, like Misrach, they rise above the subject matter. I just get disappointed by the pointless faux gentility of people like Power and Marlow - they represent a passionless facet of middle-class Englishness that I just don't respect. Ironically, I do have an original print of one of the images from the Shipping Forecast, but I didn't buy it and it isn't on any of my walls. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robert x Posted July 5, 2006 Share Posted July 5, 2006 I remember reading an article about "Black Country" and am fairly sure Billingham used medium format for that. I hadn't seen the other photos though. It's funny - in almost all of the photogs linked I see traces of Eggleston. I was thinking that when looking through the Alec Soth Mississippi pages, when LO! I came across of photo of Bill himself.....! To keep on the topic of "colour photographers we like", and wildly off the LEICA topic [he shoots 8x10] I am afraid, I feel honour bound to point you guys to the website of a British guy called Harry Cory Wright. I stumbled across him one day whilst looking for information on DIASEC, and love his work. http://www.saltwater.co.uk From visiting Photo-London last month it seems that there is a lot of interesting "fine art" colour work going on at the moment. Large format seems to be the way forward, with prints most often mounted between perspex and aluminium and being LARGE. Two I remember most from that show were Massimo Vitali (beaches series - very beautiful) and Simon Norfolk (Computers series). R Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terry_rory Posted July 5, 2006 Share Posted July 5, 2006 I have a print I commissioned from the E. Chambre Hardman trust in Liverpool (before the National Trust took over the Rodney Street studio) of 'the Rick'. It is a hand printed and hand toned 16x12 done from the original 1936 neg and it is as 'Pictorialist' as it gets and I love it! (It only cost 55 pounds and impossible to get one done now the NT have taken over. I just wish I had had the foresight to buy a few others at the time.) Not everything has to stab you in the head with relevance or hard hitting meaning to like it. So here is a poor web version of a print I love having on my wall.... http://www.mersey-gateway.org/server.php?change=storyInPictures&contentType=ConGallery&contentId=83&viewImage=5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andrewlamb Posted July 5, 2006 Author Share Posted July 5, 2006 "They represent a passionless facet of middle-class Englishness" I think 'Shipping' is an example of a book where the idea is stronger than execution. The idea appeals to the cosy Radio 4 side of me and I'm afraid to say that I would have bought the book almost irrespective of the photography because the subject appeals. In a similar way, you wouldn't mind if I let folk, on the Forum, know that one of your personal favourite books is 'Seminal Hairdressers of the '70s'. Now, some of us are a bit aghast at the excessive use of star filters in this book but that doesn't bother you because it's a subject that you're particularly interested in. Having said that, although I really like 'Shipping', I readily conceed it's not one I would recommend. In fact, after 'Early Color' and 'Evelyn Hofer', I'd be hard pressed to suggest any recent photo books. Mind you, I don't get to see many new books after the demise of Zwemmers (don't like the Photographers' Gallery bookshop much). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andrewlamb Posted July 5, 2006 Author Share Posted July 5, 2006 Trevor, re: 'The Rick". I'm originally from near Evesham. Best asparagus in the world. Fact! A couple of days ago I was at getty Images and I was very taken with a night study of the Embankment, taken in 1929. Another example of pictorialist photography but I loved it and the print was a real cracker. I'm assuming that the original neg must have been something like half plate glass because there's a wonderful quality to this shot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bds1 Posted July 5, 2006 Share Posted July 5, 2006 Andrew theres a great secondhand photography book shop over the road from St Pancras station, can't remember it's bloody name but it's very good, well worth a look Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andrewlamb Posted July 5, 2006 Author Share Posted July 5, 2006 Brian it's on Judd street and it's called something like Photo Book International (??). It must be well over 18 months since I visited it. Don't really go down Judd street anymore 'cause of all the roadworks between the British Library and St Pancras. Thanks for reminding me about it. I should cycle down and check it out. Cheers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terry_rory Posted July 5, 2006 Share Posted July 5, 2006 re embankment at night Andrew. You mean this one... http://editorial.gettyimages.com/source/search/details_pop.aspx?iid=3433454&cdi=0 Yeah, nice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terry_rory Posted July 5, 2006 Share Posted July 5, 2006 Shame about getty's really heavy handed watermarking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andrewlamb Posted July 5, 2006 Author Share Posted July 5, 2006 Trevor, I meant the other one. http://editorial.gettyimages.com/source/search/details_pop.aspx?iid=3433042&cdi=0 The print I saw was really huge and the quality was terrrfiic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andrewlamb Posted July 5, 2006 Author Share Posted July 5, 2006 Excuse spelling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boris c hann Posted July 5, 2006 Share Posted July 5, 2006 Just to pull it all together - Zwemmers, books, and 'dos - didn't Claire de Rouen (nice Egyptian bob) open her own shop post-Zwemmers? I meant to check it out last month but sadly my London visit didn't get past 48 hours (much to Guy's disappointment). "Shame about getty's really heavy handed watermarking" Shame about Getty's very existence, and shame on Andrew if he's colluding with them. Absolute f#$%^*g barbarians, hellbent on destroying the livelihoods of photographers. "terrrfiic...Excuse spelling." I just thought that was how you country boys spoke. Possibly the best source of photo books in London is (was?) Mike Wells who deals from the jampacked basement of his Camden home. I've moved around so much in the last few years that I've fallen off his mailout list. Is he still in business? You Brit boys are also just a few hours away from the civilization of Paris and the wonderful La Chambre Claire (from the Barthes - nothing to do with the lovely London Claire de R) on rue Saint Sulpice. Finally, maybe somebody can confirm the rumors of Mr Mancuso's trilogy ("Rattlesnakes", "Rage", "Regret? Non!") deal with Phaidon.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terry_rory Posted July 6, 2006 Share Posted July 6, 2006 Claire de Rouen Books, Charing Cross, First Level, 125 Charing Cross Road, London WC2H 0EW. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boris c hann Posted July 6, 2006 Share Posted July 6, 2006 How does it compare to Z's? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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