What Makes Great Photography: 80 Masterpieces Explained

by Val Williams

Pourquoi est-ce un chef-d'oeuvre ?
C'est ce qu'explique cet ouvrage, en proposant une analyse inédite de 80 clichés qui ont fait date dans l'histoire de la photographie. Concise, précise et vivante, chacune des notices resitue l'oeuvre dans son contexte, dévoilant ainsi ce qui l'a rendue exceptionnelle. S'agit-il du thème, de la composition, de la technique ? Ou bien plutôt de la fidélité au sujet ? D'Ernst Haas à Martin Parr, en passant par Man Ray, Robert Capa, Nan Goldin ou encore Rineke Dijkstra, ce livre conçu par un spécialiste nous invite dans les coulisses de la création, du portrait au paysage, du photojournalisme au documentaire social.

Genres: Photography, Art, Nonfiction

223 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2012

Reviews

[Annelies · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a beautiful and interesting little book with a collection of photographs of divers photographers of the 20th century. There are some very moving and touching pictures in it. Other photos are very abstract and objective. It shows us a image of how many applications photography has. Each photo is accompanied by a text about the composition of the photo, the colour scheme and the characteristics of the photographer. It's a good introduction in the history of photography.

[Sotiris Makrygiannis · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book layout is very good, divided in 4 boxes each on containing info about the photo and style. Was not that impressed with the pictures , only those before 40 could consider them as good ones. Rest are ok but not that inspiring. The picture of the old lonely man from Sweden touched me as the funny hats Finn's made me laugh

[Quentin Zero · Rating 5 out of 5]

extremely good place to start when you want to get in to fotography. this book provides a both visual and contentwise analysis of a diverse range of famous fotographs!

[Barbara · Rating 1 out of 5]

If you want to learn the names of many great photographers, then this book is for you. If you, like me, want to understand a bit about what made certain photos very special and famous, then this is not for you. So I give it a low rating, but that is because it didn't fulfill my expectations. It may be a great little book for someone else.

[Peter · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wouldn't call most of these photos great. There are a few nice ones, but most is pretty far from masterpiece.

[Jane · Rating 5 out of 5]

A gentle introduction to some of the most well-known photographs and what makes them significant. Read in one sitting.

[Wim Otte · Rating 2 out of 5]

Veel name dropping, weinig verklaring over 'what makes great photography'

[Angé150703 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Super livre très intéressant 😊
J’aurai aimé qu’il creuse plus sur la symbolique des photos mais j’ai bien aimé ce qu’ils proposent

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a great introduction to some famous photographs with the potential to steer you towards further reading. The book is well divided into themes, then by sub-themes. On each double page spread you get the photo on the left hand page with the right hand page divided into sections: a paragraph about the photograph, a paragraph about the photographer, a quote either by or about the photographer with a banner along the bottom of the page providing technical information about the photo along with suggested other works by different photographers. at the back of the book there is further blurbs on each photographer in alphabetical order, followed by a timeline so you can see the trends in the different themes. Although I've also read the similarly themed book '50 Photographs you should know' I still felt this had plenty of photographers and photos I hadn't seen before. Would be good for a student or someone wanting to learn more about photography. Although as mentioned in other reviews this book is very portrait/people focused, I don't think a book of this size (approx A5) would do justice to a lot of landscape photography.

[Pushkar Joglekar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfect book, in the world of ever expanding number of tutorials on YouTube by famous photographers for understanding the technical aspects about photography. This book teaches you through carefully chosen photos from different genres, countries, cultures, eras, while cleverly adopting the principle of "Learn by Example", which has always worked for me in learning anything new. If you are like me, you will photograph differently(albeit better) after going through this book.

This books ends up helping you develop and introspect for a photographer's elusive X-factor that is so important for a success of a photograph, meticulously created with all the technical details done right.

[Stuart Hill · Rating 4 out of 5]

The selection is biased towards photojournalism and there is little in the way of abstraction or landscape photography. The book nevertheless contains a fairly varied selection of material including some of the most famous names in photography such as Brassai and Ansel Adams as well as more contemporary work.

Excellent quality of reproduction and useful potted biographies of each photographer make this a worthwhile effort.

[Olea · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book enlarges your knowledge about photography masters. A strong point is giving references to alternate masterpieces on each theme/sub-theme, to be found on internet!

[Fabian Williges · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eine gute Auswahl wichtiger Fotografen. Bei den Bildern hätte ich mir manchmal ein anderes gewünscht.

[Nicki · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some fantastic photos in this book with interesting text. The only criticism is the title is a little bit misleading. There is really no text explaining what makes a great photograph. however, I did enjoy the book and hope to read more on the subject.