In preparation for revamping the introductory articles about photography that appear on this website (linked below), I spent a couple of hours this morning delving into my collection of old photographic books, magazines, and manuals. The wonderful time-lapse photograph shown above, made by Neil Montanus, appears in the 1979 edition of The Joy of Photography. Produced by the editors of the Eastman Kodak Co., this book contains hundreds of black-and-white and colour photographs that are both beautiful and instructional, and also includes special portfolios by Gordon Parks and former Magnum President, Ernst Haas. I relished flipping slowly through the pages, taking my time to study each of the prints and to read the accompanying text. Unlike digital images on a screen, which are aggressively sharp and bright, the prints, had an alluring, laid-back, painterly quality that invited me in. I felt at home among them.
montanus