Fotografi A-Z

by Hans-Michael Koetzle (Editor)

Un’enciclopedia dedicata ai fotografi del XX secolo e alle loro migliori pubblicazioni

Organizzata in ordine alfabetico, questa enciclopedia biografica comprende tutti i fotografi più importanti del XX secolo e le loro monografie più significative.
Dai primi rappresentanti del Modernismo classico fino al giorno d’oggi, Fotografi A–Z celebra quei fotografi che si sono distinti con pubblicazioni o esposizioni importanti, e che hanno dato un contributo importante alla cultura dell’immagine fotografica. Le varie voci includono fotografi nordamericani ed europei così come giapponesi, sudamericani, africani e cinesi.
Riccamente illustrata con riproduzioni di libri e riviste, questa raccolta include anche fotografi impegnati in aree “applicate”, la cui opera è considerata come arte fotografica. Tra le star si annoverano Julius Shulman, Terry Richardson, Cindy Sherman e David LaChapelle.

Genres: Photography, Art, Nonfiction

638 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2011

About the author

Hans-Michael Koetzle is a Munich-based freelance author and journalist, focusing mainly on history and the aesthetics of photography. He has published numerous books on photography and has been editor-in-chief of the magazine Leica World since 1996.

Reviews

[Philippe · Rating 4 out of 5]

This compact, hefty volume offers a delightful journey through 20th-century photography. It brings the work of many brilliant but lesser-known photographers to our attention. The directness of the photographic language that pervades this book A to Z is refreshing. We're far removed from the dour, recherché conceptual experiments in contemporary photography. Much is black-and-white of course, and the resilience and liveliness of this medium continues to beguile.
Short (and rather bland) Wikipedia-style bios are accompanied by a number of facsimile images of page spreads from one of the artist's signature books (very similar to Parr and Badger's 3-volume survey of the photo book for Phaidon). I love this format as it is more dynamic and reveals more of the artist's vision than a single, iconic image. Despite its very modest price, much care has been given to layout, typesetting and printing making it a genuine bibliophilic pleasure to peruse this book.

[Kirsty · Rating 4 out of 5]

Photographers A-Z is my first Taschen book, and will hopefully not be my last! It is a wonderful resource to have, and I have discovered some incredible work which I was in the dark about before. It is both inspirational and aspirational, and is thus sure to be the perfect gift for the photography fan in your life.

[Biggie Eddy Spaghetti · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely inspiring, endless source of inspiration to look deeper into

[Jill · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good reference book for quick facts about more photographers than you can possibly remember. It's good to have around. It's like a mini-coffee table book, really. Each photographer gets about 2-4 pages and their entry is written in a kind of short-hand, with half-sentences and abbreviations. But, you get the gist of what their specialty is/was and I like that it makes some interesting connections (mentorships, marriages, friendships, etc.) between photographers that I didn't know existed.

This isn't a book you sit and read all at once. It's a reference, mostly. Or, something to pick up and open and read a few mini-bios at random. I like it!

[Rob · Rating 4 out of 5]

Too much to take in all at once. Really a reference book/encyclopedia with short bios about different photographers. Definitely a fun book to flip through and get some photographic inspiration. Worth the $10 it cost me just to have the references.

[✩⋆Vickkelodeon⋆✩ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Este libro me parece una genialidad para fotógrafos o personas que estén interesadas en la fotografía. Tiene una gran variedad de fotógrafos y está bueno para tener de referencia