It's simple question,but there's no simple answer-indeed,each of the 280 photographs in this wonderful book offers its own,unique answer,distilling subject,setting,and cerative skill into a single arresting moment that cap-tures the viewer's imagination.And though we may find this elusive quality hard to define,we recognze is imme-diately and instinctively. William Albert Allard,one of the essayists in the book,writes,A fine portrait has the potential to tell something about the spirit of the subject that can be sensed by someone half a world and a different language away.something universal and simple:This is another person in our world and I'd like you to meet him or her. Culled from National Geographic's extraordinary archive,this collection spans more than a century and explores every cornetr of the globe and every aspect of the portraitist's art.The pictures here represent both the special visions of some of the world's finest photographers and the universal appeal of our shared humanity in all i

‘The Bitter Years’ was the title of a seminal exhibition held in 1962 at The Museum of Modern Art, New York, curated by Edward Steichen, and 2012 marks its 50th anniversary. The show featured 209 images by photographers who worked under the aegis of the US Farm Security Administration (FSA) in 1935–41 as part of Roosevelt’s New Deal. The Great Depression of the 1930s defined a generation in modern American history and was still a vivid memory in 1962. The FSA, set up to combat rural poverty, included an ambitious photography project that launched many photographic careers, most notably those of Walker Evans and Dorothea Lange. The exhibition featured their work as well as that of ten other FSA photographers, including Ben Shahn, Carl Mydans and Arthur Rothstein. Their images are among the most remarkable in documentary photography – testimonies of a people in crisis, hit by the full force of economic turmoil and the effects of drought and dust storms. The Bitter Years celebrates some of the m

Best known for his striking photographs of people on the fringes of South African society, Roger Ballen makes images that are ambiguous and often disturbing, but also shot through with flashes of dark humour. The photographs in Shadow Chamber blur the boundaries between documentary photography and art forms such as painting, theatre and sculpture, challenging the ways in which we perceive the 'reality' of photography. Ballen's images are completely honest, yet also fabricated. The mysterious, cell-like rooms that Ballen photographs are actual places, but they are unsettling and strange, logical but impossible: their walls are covered with scribbled drawings, stains and dangling wires, the floors are strewn with bizarre props and artefacts. Dogs, rabbits and kittens wander into the frame or are stuffed into unlikely containers. The humans and animals in Ballen's photographs appear isolated and lost, yet strangely empowered at the same time. The resulting images are allegories of lived experiences and surre

Whether they are of Abu Dhabi, California, Egypt or Emilia, all of the images he produces are lit with a constant physical light and elements that this photographer seems to always have with him the way he does with his camera bag, and through which all he wants to do is observe the world. I find such an aesthetic to be more that of a painter than a photographer somehow. Better yet, that of a post-documentary or neo-pictorialist photographer, who experiences and conceives his work to be the exprssive gesture of an artist for whom the subject is above all the opportunity for a tremendous but constant variation in his view of the world.

Baby Talk The Anne Geddes phenomenon Baby as bunny, baby as sunflower, babies upon a carpet of feathers. With her unique portraits of infants, Anne Geddes has become one of the world?s most widely known and loved photographers . Her portfolio has become a brand in itself, with posters, puzzles, apps, calendars, and clothing items all inspired by her baby photography. Like no photographer before, Geddes strives to capture the beauty, purity, and vulnerability of young children and to embody within an image her deeply held belief that each and every child must be ?protected, nurtured and loved.? Since its inception in 1992, The Geddes Philanthropic Trust has designated significant funds from the range of Anne Geddes products to help prevent child abuse and neglect in countries around the world. This Geddes retrospective offers access to her complete archive, reaching back to the late 1980s. With many previously unseen images , it honors not only a whimsical and endearing aesthetic but its underlying

Birds have been a source of fascination and mystery for humans throughout the world, and throughout time.The Encyclopedia of Birds reveals in striking detail the rich variety of bird life,from the exotic to the common that we can see everyday in our locality; birds whose songs and silhouettes in flight we often take for granted. But you will also find, photographed close-up with stunning clarity, occasional visitors to these shores, together with images of birds from all over the world.Splendidly illustrated, featuring more than 400 species in a highly informative text,The Encyclopedia of Birds offers a window on the world of the extraordinary diversity of birds on our planet.

This book presents photos taken by Roman Signer on a 2005 journey through the Carpathian Mountains, which took him to the Ukraine and Romania. The photos evidence brief stops at the side of the road and present subjects that fall into two distinct categories: home-grown fruits, vegetables and other produce for sale, carefully displayed on stools or small and loving memorials of flowers, crosses and wreaths for deceased family members and friends who were road casualties. The similarity between each composition the landscape format, the colourful centred arrangement, the consistent distance between photographer and subject belies a deeper message: the produce suggests sustenance, growth and while the memorials are signs of tragedy and grief. Karpaten / Carpathians is thus not only a collection of travel photos, but a reflection of the human need to shape events, and a succinct story of life and death both realities along the metaphorical road on which we all travel. Born in 1938 in Appenzell, Switzerl

The photography community has been among the earliest and most enthusiastic adopters of Apple’s revolutionary iPad. With its crystal-clear display, powerful graphical capabilities and intuitive interface, it’s certainly an effective way to show off photographs. But what else can it do? In this, the first book on the subject, Ben Harvell explains how the iPad is revolutionising the way that pro photographers work. There are powerful photo editing applications, easy-to-use photo sharing and display programs, and useful tethered-shooting this book explains all, and will be a must-read for digital photographers everywhere.

In celebration of Hollywood's legendary actresses from the 1930sto the present, Assouline, together with Elle magazine, presentsThe Allure of Beauty: Women in Hollywood. From Marilyn Monroe andMarlene Dietrich to Anita Ekberg and Julia Roberts, each page ofthis vibrant anthology radiates with provocative images ofunforgettable faces and moments that have forever changed the placeof women in Hollywood - as well as in our culture. Elle magazinefilm critic Karen Durbin delves into the history of Hollywood,highlighting females who have proven their femininity, strength,and talent. The glitzy narrative accompanies a carefullyresearched, sexy selection of photography that captures theindividuality of each women. AUTHOR: Karen Durbin is the filmcritic for Elle magazine and contributor to The New York TimesSunday Arts Leisure section, for which she created and writesa regular feature on breakthrough performances in forthcomingmovies. She was the film critic of Mirabella magazine and editor inchief of The Village V

ANSEL ADAMS: 400 PHOTOGRAPHS presents the full spectrum of Adams ' work in a single volume for the first time, offering the largest available compilation from his legendary photographic career. Beautifully produced and presented in an attractive landscape trim, ANSEL ADAMS: 400 PHOTOGRAPHS will appeal to a general gift-book audience as well as Adams' legions of dedicated fans and students. The photographs are arranged chronologically into five major periods, from his first photographs made in Yosemite and the High Sierra in 1916 to his work in the National Parks in the 1940s up to his last important photographs from the 1960s. An introduction and brief essays on selected images provide information about Adams ' life, document the evolution of his technique, and give voice to his artistic vision. Few artists of any era can claim to have produced four hundred images of lasting beauty and significance. It is a testament to Adams ' vision and lifetime of hard work that a book of this scale can be compiled.

Martin Munkacsi was never at a loss for self-confidence and was proud to be the best-paid photographer of his time. One of the most significant photographers of the twentieth century, Munkacsi shaped the beginnings of modern photojournalism and set into motion the previously static medium of photography. Munkacsi combined journalistic accuracy with a highly formal aesthetic standard, and was an outstanding representative of the Neues Sehen, arguably photographys weightiest contribution to advanced art. He defied convention by incorporating motion, dramatic camera angles and whimsy into his work, creating fashion and sports photography that was groundbreaking and unmatched. Munkacsis work unfortunately did not remain intact: scattered throughout the world, it was to an extent lost. Only the Ullstein Archive in Berlin maintains a fairly extensive collection of his lifes work from his days in Hungary and Germany. This second-edition of Martin Munkacsi combines pictures from all Munkacsis artistic phases w