Suggestions for must have / read photography books?

[Alastair]

Fay Godwin was an example of a photographer who DID look at the landscape in these terms. One of the biggest limitations i see in landscape photography is that while many images are spectacular or stunningly beautiful so many of them say so little about the landscape.

She's very interesting. Her approach to landscape reminds me of Colin Gifford's approach to railway photography, and this make me think it comes from approaching the subject with an awareness of the societal issues around the subject and a desire to document rather than merely create a pretty image. You hit the nail on the head with "you won't read about this in a photography book" - sometimes a photograph is only a photograph, but a great photograph will go beyond the image and this requires a broader education and general knowledge.

Thank you for reminding me of her work.


Speaking of thinks not found in photography books, this write-up of Evgenia Arbugaeva's Anthony Burgess Prize winning project is very good and it explores the relationships and possible influences behind the images..

www.theguardian.com/culture/2017/feb/26/observer-anthony-burgess-prize-winner-evgenia-arbugaeva-weather-man-susan-sheahan
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[jerry12953]

Yes, later in her career she claimed she was a documentary photographer and denied she was a landscape photographer. It's a moot point really; if she documented the landscape she could be either.

Anyway, if the OP is interested in landscape but wants to go beyond the obvious I would strongly recommend her later work, eg The Land, Our Forbidden Land, or The Edge of the Land. The latter also contains quite a bit of text written by Fay which confirms her intention to document rather than celebrate.