Which old photo books do you like?

**Will Frostmill** · 7-Jan-2015, 17:17

I just picked up a copy of Kingslake's "Lenses in Photography" for fairly cheap on Amazon. I'm curious, what other photography books do you recommend, that I could pick up used for not much dough?

Everyone reccomends Stroebel - but which version? It probably doesn't matter, right? And there's a Graflex book, and the Kodak Professional Photoguide (I have that). Of course there's Ansel's series too.

What do you think?

**John Kasaian** · 7-Jan-2015, 17:27

Principles of Photography by Neblette and Photography Facts and Formulas by Wall and Jordan would be good additions to your list.

**Peter Lewin** · 7-Jan-2015, 17:38

My approach would be different. The "how to" information is available on the web these days. I would look for books by photographers whose work you like, rather than books on photographic technique. For Ansel Adams, I would look for "Examples, the making of 40 photographs" rather than the more famous series. Nothing wrong with the technique books, but I think you get more from looking at other photographer's work. And as they say, YMMV.

**John Kasaian** · 7-Jan-2015, 17:58

Adam's Examples is one of my favorites!

**mdarnton** · 7-Jan-2015, 18:09

Not really quite in line with your question, but I've been buying books of pictures by the photographers I'm interested in, recently. Used books from Amazon can be dirt cheap, and I'm taking advantage of that. Some of them, if you are more interested in content than condition, sell for a cent (I think they're making a dollar or two on postage), a dollar, a couple of bucks. It's never been better for people who like books made of paper.

**Bill_1856** · 7-Jan-2015, 18:11

"Time in New England" by Paul Strand and Nancy Newhall is my favorite. Not one word about photography in the whole book.

**Doug Howk** · 7-Jan-2015, 18:31

Books on print retouching - I have three.
"Print Finishing" by William Mortensen
"The Art of retouching and improving Negatives and Prints" by Arthur Hammond
"Retouching from start to finish" by Veronica Cass
The last book is also a good intro to the Adams Retouching Machine which can be useful for exhibition-quality prints.

**Jim Jones** · 7-Jan-2015, 18:57

Kingslake's Lenses in Photography was the first book I bought on photography 62 years ago. It is still at hand for formulas and other information that an aging memory can't retain. Stroebel is my favorite of several on view cameras. I haven't forgiven Neblette for not really understanding pinhole photography in his 1942 edition of Photography: Its Principles and Practice. The Ansel Adams books published by the New York Graphic Society and Little, Brown and company are good. Some others about him have been compiled from poorly reproduced images in the public domain and from second-hand information. Naomi Rosenblum's A World History of Photography is a good overview. Photography and the American Scene was my early introduction to 19th century American photography. Josef Maria Eder's History of Photography is a more intensive study of early photography from an European view. The latter two were published by Dover books, but appear to be out of print now. Regardless of anyone's opinion on William Mortensen's photography, his book The Model and the later edition How to Pose the Model are still useful.

**Jim Noel** · 7-Jan-2015, 20:42

"Handbook of Photography" by Henney & Dudley and "On Portraiture" by Fred Archer are good additions to the handwritten notebook of B. Smith the last entry of which is dated April 1896.