Tuesday 13 November 2007

On the shelf


Just recently i moved my bookcase into another room to get them away from the bright light of an nearby window. It was during the move that i realised how many photography books i've collected over the years. Many of then stem from my college and university days but i still buy at least five or six each year, depending on the cost and quality of the book i'm looking at.

More and more books on photography are appearing on the market making the process of choosing a book even harder. I would say that this is a golden time for purchasing affordable books about photography and photographers but in the UK it can be tricky to find a bookshop that stocks a large photography section. In York there is only one place to go - Borders.

I don't blame the bookshops. Photography books can be expensive and they will never sell in the quantities that the Harry Potter or celebrity biographies do. For many people (including myself) these books help improve their photography. It also gives them access to work that they may only see in an art gallery - for some people, a rather daunting place where they think they have to 'understand' the work on view.

My best buy this year has to be a collection of five books, many of which out of print, purchased for under £10 ($20) including Don McCullin's fabulous 1979 book called 'Homecoming' - a rare find at a car boot sale!

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