The Photography Book: 2nd Edition

Much like another of Phaidon's giant tomes, "The Art Book," this book provides an alphabetical tour through the work of a number of seminal photographers. I'm no expert in photography, so I cannot comment on the appropriateness of the selections. However, as someone interested in learning a bit more about the craft, I am very happy with the purchase. As said before, this book is similar to "The Art Book," in that it provides on each page a single representative work of a particular photographer, the selections presented in alphabetical order by the artist's name. Each selection is accompanied with a little explanatory text and a short list of other photographers in the book with similar work. The selections are printed reasonably large, and the book is constructed from sturdy paper of good quality.Note: This is not a book of cheery photos of landscapes and pets (although there are some of both in here). Some of the images can be quite disturbing as they depict scenes of war, death, or suffering. Art is not always fun. Also, if you're some sort of a prude, you may be upset at the frequent nudity.

Great condition

This HEFTY book is beautiful. While this is being used as a text for my college class, I will keep this one around as a coffee table book. It's so interesting and the photos are lovely. The pages are glossy and thick. It's a conversation book for sure.

Fabulous photos accompanied by background on the pic itself along with that of the author.

This book is Huge! It is a very substantial coffee table book. I absolutely love it. Get the hardcover new edition. It's worth the money.

the book is in a very very good condition! just like a brand new one!

I did not like it. It did not serve my purpose.

nice book

First of all, ignore the negative reviews of this book, especially the ones that say that such and such a photographer has been omitted, and simply enjoy the content of this mighty tome for what it is; a collection of some of the finest images by some of the finest photographers known to man. And also some not so well known. That's why I say ignore the negative reviews, because it would be impossible to please all of the readers all of the time.Secondly, before you purchase this book get yourself down to the gym and pump some iron because you'll need it. This book is a serious coffee table book, both in size and weight. In fact you could use it as a coffee table in its own right, it's that substantial. Don't get me wrong, this is a good thing because to me it adds a sense of gravitas to the whole reading experience as this wonderful book is meant to be savoured and not merely flipped through in an idle manner.The book as a whole is superbly put together, with a wonderfully eclectic group of photographers and their images, each one being placed side by side with a brief description of the photograph and the photographer who took them. The photos themselves are extremely well reproduced on quality paper, with no blurring or ink bleeding whatsoever. Admittedly, unless you're a aficionado of photography and photographers, like me you probably won't have heard of the majority of the photographers in this book but that doesn't really matter. It's the images and the effect or inspiration that they have on the viewer that counts, and this book has inspired me as an enthusiastic amateur to try a different approach to the various aspects of my image making, be it landscape, street, candid or portrait.Overall I'm very, very impressed with this book. Even at full retail price its a bargain when you consider the time and effort that's been put into it, but the price I paid for it at a little over £11.00 including free P&P made it a complete no-brainer. So, if you're in a bit of a rut inspiration wise or simply want some nice photos to look at or want a lovely book to grace your shelves, then you could do a lot worse than to purchase The Photography Book, 2nd Edition, by Ian Jeffery. However, although you may pleased with the visual delights that this magnificent tome has to offer, I don't think your postman will be too grateful for the hernia inducing qualities it took to deliver it to your door. Very, very highly recommended.

We ordered this book as a recommendation but didn't realise there is also a smaller version as it wasn't showing on Amazon. The content of the book is as expected but the book is VERY bulky and heavy and not suitable for carrying around. Please bare this in mind before ordering.

This book contains excellent photos but they are ruined by poor printing. Ansel Adams "Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico" is printed with such high contrast you can hardly see any detail in the image.

Bought as present, good response.

This is a fine, fine book. I'm so pleased with the purchase.