The Photobook: A History (Volume II) - Hardcover

Badger, Gerry

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0714844330 ISBN 13: 9780714844336

Publisher: Phaidon Press, 2006

Synopsis

This book provides a unique perspective on the story of photography through the particular history of the photobook.

About this title

Review:

"It is a testament to the strength of [Parr's] argument, and to the quality of the titles he has compiled, that there is indeed a current reappraisal of the significance and value of photographer's books."―The Art Book

"Fascinating... Beautifully illustrated with three dimensional covers and spreads – as with volume I - we really get an impression of the photo books as an 'object'... An essential guide to existing and budding collectors everywhere... By the time you reach the end if you weren't hooked on the photographic book already, you will be."―Laura Noble, London Independent Photography

"[Parr's] international perspective is a major contribution to cultural history."―Ei8ht Photojournalism

"Volume II of Martin Parr and Gerry Badger's The Photobook: A History is even more opinionated, eccentric, and invaluable than the first volume."―Photograph

"So many photography books are published these days, but here’s one that makes sense of all the others."―The New York Times Book Review

"To leaf through this book is to journey into the past; its images evoke our existence more poignantly than words can."―Library Journal

Synopsis:

While the history of photography is a well-established canon, much less critical attention has been directed at the phenomenon of the photobook, which for many photographers is perhaps the most significant vehicle for the display of their work and the communication of their vision to a mass audience. In the second of two volumes, both co-edited by Martin Parr and Gerry Badger, the history of the photobook is brought fully up to date. This volume covers company photobooks, artists' photobooks, photobooks that have been compiled by editors (rather than photographers), as well as the most recent photobooks, which chronicle contemporary life. This study provides an important corrective to the traditional history of photography. The selection of photographers made by Badger and Parr challenges the popular canon, and their survey of the history of the photobook reveals a secret web of influence and interrelationships between photographers and photographic movements around the world.

The book is divided into a series of thematic chapters, each featuring a general introductory text providing background information and highlighting the dominant political and artistic influences on the photobook in the period, followed by more detailed discussion of the individual photobooks. The chapter texts are followed by spreads and images from over 200 books, which provide the central means of telling the history of the photobook. Chosen by Parr and Badger, these illustrations show the most artistically and culturally important photobooks in three dimensions, with the cover or jacket and a selection of spreads from the book shown.

About this edition

• Publisher: Phaidon Press
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 0714844330
• ISBN 13: 9780714844336
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 320
• Editor: Laner Melissa