Photography Books

If you don't know what is portrait photography, or better, if you think you know what is portrait photography, you have to buy and/or read this grand format book !!
Emotion, beauty, technical perfection....certainly one of my favourites

Photographer Steve McCurry's images of Asian peoples and culture is renowned the world over, so it's especially pleasing to discover them all together under one cover in LOOKING EAST: PORTRAITS BY STEVE MCCURRY. Don't think you know Steve McCurry? Yes, you probably do - he's the photographer who captured the Afghan girl with the big eyes that appeared on the cover of National Geographic. More big-eyed and striking peoples are captured here, displaying the power of the portrait in cultural understanding.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

Tremendous pictures by the one and only Steve Mccurry.
Big print size portraits, great captures.

I think this is the best collection and the best printing quality of McCurry's portraits to-date. These images are truly fascinating. I enjoy in particular those from Tibet.

This is a magnificent book full of stunning portraits.

McCurry has captured the soul of his subjects using simple yet finely tuned techniques of a master photographer.

Opening this large book to page 48 we see the Kuchi Shepherd from Kashmir, his orange beard jumps from the page while his sage blue eyes reflect the years.

The Afghan Girl is here too. Her blue green eyes tinged with ochre match her clothes and background so perfectly she appears to own on the page.

Of course I'm romanticising about these images. Most of these people endure hardships most Westerners can't imagine. McCurry went back to look for the girl many years later (a National Geographic documentary). He found her still poor and unknown. Her eyes were still luminous though, her humanity shining through.

This is what photography is all about - no fancy tricks or gimmicks, just letting the subject speak for themselves, to live on the page and in our memories.

Tibetan Portrait is really what the name says - As a photographer myself I was touched by the beautiful and subtle imagens on the book. It also teaches us about the present situation of Tibet, a land which has been dominated by the Chinese since its invasion in 1949, under Mao-Tse Tung's force. It's interesting and very easy to read and understand history. The pictures are as if you were transported into time and it's hard to believe they've been shot ( sort of )recently. And it also has a quick information about the equipment the author Phil Borges used to take them. It's the sort of information a photographer is always glad to see! Finishing is great, beautiful paper with a hardcover and jacket. Great work!

I love the work Borges has givne us. It is a great display of some people in Tibet that are special in their character, soul, and appearance. His rendition of the photos in a combined B&W and slight color tint really works. His description and obvious connection with each of the subjects is strong and it comes through in his work. I liked the children especially, for despite their most difficult of circumstances, they appear hopeful and dignified. Wonderful job.

This book was sent to me by a friend overseas, and I fell in love with it the moment I opened it.
Borges' photographs capture the very essence of these proud, wonderful people, and every person I have shared it with has falled in love with it as well.

Namaste.

Phil Borges presents, through the medium of photography, a project that brings attention to the situation in Tibet. Both stylish and yet sensitive, Borges uses an extensive cross section of subjects to accomplish this. He brings to the project, like I mentioned above, an extensive cross section not just of subjects but locations as well that exemplify the phenomenal complexity and diversity in that country. An example is the portrait of Yama, which caught my eye, who could be any child in any place in the world. I might be waxing "noble savage" here but does she not deserve a childhood just like any child in the globe? With text from such notables as Nobel Peace Laureates like Elie Wiesel and His Holiness Tenzin Gyatso - the book is a sure hit and a must for every home. Not to be outdone are other contributors who themselves are "heavy hitters" in the discourse of Tibet and Tibetan issues - Robert F. Thurman and the late Galen Rowell. Phil Borges presents us with nothing less than a tour de force of visual stimulation coupled with profound text and a stylish presentation. A keeper that will stand the test of time.

Miguel Llora

Each of these faces is pure incarnation of a human feeling...from joy to worriness, from amazement to pride.Some of these people will haunt you for long after you turn the last page (See little 4 year old Pemba's eyes...) Sent the book to friends overseas...just the kind of work you want to share with your closest ones.

It was refreshing to read a book about twins that wasn't all research and statistics. This book tells a short story about the lives of twins that are either famous or have accomplished something extraordinary or stick out in some other way. Notables are Muhammad Ali's twin daughter, the Hennessy's, Tamera and Tia (Sister Sister show), Mario Andretti and his twin Aldo and Jane Seymour's twin boys. Also the story of the Jim Twins (in every book about twins) and the famous Hensel conjoined twins.

Very interesting reading, and I agree it's a good coffee table book. I do think they should have more boy-girl and other fraternal twins sets represented though.

Not only do the "twin authors" provide a first-hand glimpse into the world of "being a twin"...but through the plethora of inspiring interviews with "real-life" twins, they gave me the "real-life" gift of stopping to think of "being human!"

I liked this book enough. I was disappointed that it focused so much on identical twins and same-sex twins. (My twins are boy/girl...there is only one vignette in the book.) I haven't found myself reading it over and over. The pictures are lovely and the stories are fine. I give it a B or maybe B+.

Not only do the "twin authors" provide a first-hand glimpse into the world of "being a twin"...but through the plethora of inspiring interviews with "real-life" twins, they gave me the "real-life" gift of stopping to think of "being human!"

This book truly touched my heart. I am a twin and felt that it honestly portrayed the many complex and deep emotions and issues that twins experience. I can't wait to share this book with my twin and family! And there are so many amazing people in the book. I didn't realize Muhammad Ali and Jane Seymour had twins. And how different each relationship can be, yet also have such commonalities. I absolutely love this book and find myself opening it up often to read an essay and look at the beautiful photos.

We've Come This Far is an insider's inside look at a pillar of African American Christianity, Abyssinian Baptist Church. Bob Gore's skill as a photographer and his commitment to his faith are evident on each page of this lovingly crafted work. In some cultures in the world, taking a photograph of a person is looked at with trepidation because it is believed to be an attempt to capture the subject's soul. And that's exactly what Mr. Gore has done in this book and there is no need for fear. The pictures and accompanying essays capture real life/real time moments in the broad scope of the life and spirit of this historic church.

I've never been to New York, and I've never been to a black Baptist church. But the spirit of this institution- its leaders and worshippers- absolutely radiate off the pages of this book. It is unbelievably inspiring. It would make an excellent gift for any liberal Christian activist you know, for a pastor or clergy member working hard to integrate the church into the community, or for yourself. The text is also beautifully formatted, and the history and descriptions are very accessible. The primary focus is always on the black and white photos found on almost every page. Beautiful.

The rich and vibrant history of Abysinnian Church and the Harlem community is revealed in this work by Bob Gore. The photos are of such superior quality that you can feel the message conveyed in the picture without using the text. With the additon of text there is a wonderful account of the Harlem experience, chock full of information about the history and the individual personal expressions of those who were there when it happened. This photographic journal is vibrant and colorful in both word and image. There are real accounts of Abysinnian Baptist Church's history, including it's spiritual, political, social and economic relationships with the communities that it serves. I urge you to consider this book not just for reading but also as an important addition to your library.

I've been to Abyssinian only twice, but was almost overwhelmed each time with the power of commitment and community. Bob Gore's book captures with warmth and intimacy the spirit of this special place and its people. It is the only church I've been to where I felt that power of love which Christianity must have carried through the centuries.

this book will move you. i have viewed many photo books and exhibits and have found many to be interesting and technically proficient. this book easily jumps those hurdles, but more importantly, the images on these pages reach out of their simple wood pulp shelter to touch your heart.

white, black, or blue; gospel lover or country western, you owe it to yourself to spend time with this group of deeply felt images.

buy two copies.

My name is Debra Marlin. I am the author of "Yellowdog",and "Yellowpup".
Over the years so many have told me of the warm hearted reviews appearing
here on Amazon. Thank you so much. I'm glad that the images and text have
touched the hearts of so many. I just entered the realm of the internet or I would have written this sooner. Keep an eye on Amazon soon. I am about to
publish an extraordinary fine-art horse book and a follow-up to Yellowdog and
Yellowpup. The horse book is every bit as poignant, and mystical as the dog
books and just as beautiful. I spent four years in Carmel Valley, and Paso Robles, CA. shooting it. There is also a beautiful book soon to be released which is of the paintings from Yellowdog. It will be a signed and numbered limited edition. So many thanks to Amazon, for over the years so generously
promoting my books. I'm sure there will be many more. Sincerly Debby Marlin

After losing my Golden, Cody, after twelve years I have been walking around in a daze. This book helped me sort out my deep feelings of grief and absolute despair. These dogs are spirits in our lives, true soulmates. They are there for us through thick and thin and go far beyond being man's best friend. I could easily associate with Marlin's deep love and deep sense of loss. I wish I could sit with her over a cup of tea and just talk Goldens. A deeply passionate book.

This is a pictorial history of the author's love affair with her Golden Retrievers. The "story" is about 30 pages and the pictures about 50 or so. The story will grab you in your gut and hit you right in the heart of how you feel about your current (or former) Golden Retriever. The story about the cover photo is especially moving. For a non "how-to" book, this one is THE BEST!

My daughter bought me this book for Christmas two years ago. I haven't been able to read more than a few pages before I have to put it away. It is too moving. I know I will return to it after my 13 year old Golden has gone.

if you or anyone you know has lost a golden, there is no excuse for not buying this book. i have never found anything that could help me so much through the most difficult time in my life.

thank you debra.

I bought it as a gift for my husband who is into photography. He's really enjoying it. It arrived before Christmas too even though I got an email that said it would be late. I've had good experience w/ amazon on book orders.

This is a beautiful book of photography done by one of the most outstanding nature photographers America has ever known. The photos from all over N. America are outstanding. A wonderful coffee table book. Also an inspirational book for photographers or anyone desiring to be amongst the glories of nature. Galan Rowell knew what to look for in a great photograph.

I love this book! I'm in to landscape photography and this book is some of the best examples out there.

This book is packed full of breath-taking scenery with every page, from front cover to back, presenting exquisite photos of North American treasures. It is a picture book filled with eye candy for the nature lover, world traveler, and science enthusiast. I highly recommend this book to inspire your soul, renew your mind, and lift your spirits.

I have been a fan of Galen Rowell's work for years, and I had been anticipating getting a compendium of his North American work for a while. If you want to see some of Rowell's best from a technical standpoint, then by all means grab a copy, but be warned that this is some of the worse image quality I've seen in a photography book published in the last 10 years. Most pictures are overly grainy, there are some major pixel problems where colors blend (particularly in colorful sky shots), and color casts often don't match his originals. With the technology as good as it presently is, this is inexcusable for such an expensive book. Rowell deserved better.

Fast shipping and great item, well packed, no problems, would buy again.

Book was in perfect condition. Price was great. Photography fantastic. Would like to purchase more by this author/photographer.

'Above Chicago' by aerial photographer Robert Cameron is an example of my very favorite type of souvenir to buy when I was visiting a new city, generally on business. There is simply nothing quite as evocative as this truly amazing selection of photographs of an eminantly photogenic city. I have seen similar efforts done, for example, by David King Gleason on Boston. And, while Boston is easily as interesting a subject as Chicago, Mr. Gleason doesn't seem to carry it off quite as well. I do miss the bit of local color added to volumes on London (Alistair Cook) and San Francisco (Herb Caen), but the star of the show is the quality and expert selection of photographs.

This book is just wonderful. If you love Chicago, it shows everything. I love how they have old photos next to the modern ones to see the comparisons. This is truly the best book for any Chicago collection.

This was the first Robert Cameron book I purchased and has always been one of my favorites. I think the photos in this book are just amazing and they are so vivid and captivating. Chicago is such a beautiful city and from the air you understand what great civic planning can do for a city. Cameron hits all the most important areas and does not miss anything; from Oak Park to Lake Forest, for Aurora to the Miracle Mile, it's all here. This is one of his best books and he does Chicago proud. I recommend this book as I do all of his wonderful books, if you love great photography you will have to have them all, but this is a great place to start.

I have never used PS before. But with this detailed and step-by-step instructions of this book, I found PS is quite easy to handle. love it, recommended to those who are truly beginners like me!

It sure made it easier to navigate through Photoshop. I still have a lot to learn, but it's easier with Sue and Jack's help.

This book is real helpful. Has some great tips with a number of nice shortcuts

A great resource for those who know, or are just begining to use photoshop. It helps you apply this powerful program to the unique problems of underwater photography, with easy hands on demonstrations. Version differences sometimes get in the way a bit, but the concept is clear and you just have to figure out how a newer version does what they may have done on the version this was written on.

All in all a very helpful book, with many great tips and concepts. I have used photoshop for a while, and been shooting UW for several years, this has already helped me get better photos and I have not hit the water since I got the book. I revisited some shots with specific problems that I learned a fix from in this book. Paid for itself in the first week.

I write this review with one purpose in mind: to affirm the 5-star rating this book has (so far).

As an experienced but not professional Photoshop user, I already had a good set of skills under my belt prior to color correcting underwater shots. I'd also done my internet homework and found plenty of good material out there. (YouTube, for example, has some great tutorials.)

I am cynical about most Photoshop books. Too often the same-old same-old just gets repackaged.

This said, I feel AP4UWP was excellent and well worth the price. In particular, AP4UWP helped me with those shots that really needed help but were worth preserving.

I've already recommended this book to every UW photographer I know.

Dr. Kirtland C Peterson

Excellent book! I wish I had known about this book before I went to Angkor Wat.

Angkor, Celestial temples of the Khmer Empire is a photobook limited to the Angkor Site and some outlining temples. Although the quality of the photo's is excellent, the book itself with regards to the informative value is disappointing. An exception to this is the chronology of sites. Angkor: Temples et monumentsThe Treasures of Angkor: Cultural Travel Guide (Rizzoli Art Guide)Angkor: Cambodia's Wondrous Khmer Temples, Fifth Edition (Odyssey Illustrated Guide)Ancient Angkor (River Book Guides)Angkor Cities and Temples

I purchased three books on Angkor Wat after my week visit to Siem Reap, Cambodia and this book was by far the best I have seen. The photos are excellent and the narration in very informative. It is expensive but worth it.

Wow, what a spectacular book, truly amazing. I was blown away by the quality of the photography, the reader actually feels like they are in the jungle amid the ruins of Angkor. I have never visited Angkor Wat and probably never will, but after experiencing this book, I feel somehow that I have been there. The quality of the book is superior and the book even comes in a wonderful case. The publisher should be congradulated, it's a luxurious book. Some books are extremely expensive and you wonder why, I can assure you, you will not ask that about this one. If you have any interest in this subject or just like to own beautiful things I urge you to purchase this book, it will be a jewel in your book collection

Through his magical photographic eye, Jon Ortner has created a wondrous collection of striking images and scholarly prose. His perfectly lit photographs and well-documented historic descriptions allow one to easily understand this complicated ancient subject. Each temple is clearly organized into relevant sections from the central Angkor area to the rare and never-before-seen temples in the outer lying areas. If you have visited Angkor - Ortner's book is the perfect addition to your library. Or, if you have not visited, this book provides the perfect impetus.

This book is amazing!!! The photos are spectacular, and the author is very descriptive -- he makes you feel like you are actually there. Recommend highly.

This is a clearly written, funny, moving and fascinating account of what it was like for the author to work in Antarctica over a number of years. While he has told it like a one-year trip, in fact it is a distillation of 14 years experience.

The book is distinguished in several respects. First, the photography is wonderful - just it is worth the price of admission. Second, there is the story of working there as a scientist, in particular the work underwater. It is really fascinating and full of quirky tidbits, like mummified seals thousands of years old or the faulty insulation of some fish. Third, there are the personal tales of what it is like for the residents, and they are harrowing not in any adventuresome sense, but in the psychological demands placed on them. Women beware of living there with so many hungry males!

Warmly recomended. It is also beautifully written from a stylistic standpoint. Truly a mini-masterpiece of the genre.

The author, Jim Mastro, got to spend one year at the bottom of the world and he wrote first person text and included beautiful photographs in his presentation. Some of the photographs capture the incredible beauty of Antartica and of the beauty of the wildlife.

I expected a tome from someone who worked in Antarctica, heavy on the narrative, light on coffee-table book quality photographs. I was pleasantly surprised to find a fine quality book with excellent photographs. Well-written and nicely laid out, this makes a good introduction to modern-day Antarctic history.

I've read the account of the doctor who had breast cancer and her rescue "Ice Bound" as well as a scientist's account of working in the Antarctic area, "Crystal Desert". Neither of them were as good as this book.

I've travelled to the Antarctic peninsula (as well as the fantastic South Georgia Island, a sub-antarctic island), and it's a wonderfully beautiful place. Some of the photographs capture the southernmost continent's incredible beauty and equally fantastic wildlife.

Recommended.

If you are in the least bit interested in Antarctica, as I have been for about 20 years, READ THIS BOOK. Mastro is a brilliant travel writer whose simple, witty, easily enjoyable style keeps you feeling as though you were there experiencing the whole thing yourself. An amazing narrative insight into several different areas of the frozen continent, in weather conditions beyond belief, as well a trip below the ice on a diving expedition, and a trip to Bird Island on the Antarctic Peninsua. I learned so much form this book! It would be well worth the price even if it were only in text form. The amazing pictures throughout it really add to the sense of what it is really like there.