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If you are starting with candid and street photography, probably you need to start improving your knowledge. In this article we let you a list of the best street photography books you can use.
Top books for street photography
1. “Personal Best” by Elliott Erwitt.
One of the america’s top photographers, Elliott Erwitt captured America with style, class, humor, and often harsh-takes on American society. This is a retrospective on his career: a classic collection of images by a master of the art.
2. “MOMA Catalogue” by Lee Friedlander.
Lee Friedlander is one of the most important of the 1960s generation of photographers for whom the posture of disinterested objectivity served as a vehicle for passionate personal inquiries. His large body of work–he most often produces extended series of pictures on a chosen theme, then publishes them in book form–is broad in subject matter and supple and complex in style, and focuses on what he calls America’s “social landscape”.
3. “Where I Find Myself” by Joel Meyerowitz.
Where I Find Myself is the first major single book retrospective of one of America’s leading photographers. It is organized in inverse chronological order and spans the photographer’s whole career to date: from Joel Meyerowitz’s most recent picture all the way back to the first photograph he ever took. The book covers all of Joel Meyerowitz’s great projects: his work inspired by the artist Morandi, his work on trees, his exclusive coverage of Ground Zero, his trips in the footsteps of Robert Frank across the US, his experiments comparing color and black and white pictures, and of course his iconic street photography work.
4. “The Urban Prisoner” by Matt Weber.
A stunning book of New York City photography by a taxi driver turned street photographer. Weber drove more miles than any photographer around the gritty ’80s in New York and saw so many fascinating things that he decided to purchase a camera to document them. We are very lucky that he did.
5. “Vivian Maier: Street Photographer” by Vivian Maier.
A good street photographer must be possessed of many talents: an eye for detail, light, and composition; impeccable timing; a populist or humanitarian outlook; and a tireless ability to constantly shoot, shoot, shoot, shoot and never miss a moment. The original book that introduced the life story and work of Vivian Maier, the nanny who photographed from the 1950s-1990s and leftover 100,000 photographs to be found by John Maloof after her death.
6. “A Day Off” by Tony Ray Jones .
A book about English people on holiday by one of the most important British photographers. His work blends humor and sadness with a deep understanding for the people in his photographs.
7. “Early Color” by Saul Leiter.
A seminal work in the world of color photography, Leiter’s painterly photographs of New York beginning in the 1950s show an elegant and romantic view of the city. Early Color is as gorgeous as a photobook can get.
Photography books for beginners
8. “The Essentials of Street Photography & Street Photography Conversations” by James Maher
Explore the streets with The Essentials of Street Photography. There’s lessons about how to technically approach street photography, how to edit your work, how to overcome your fears, or how to get sharp, close-up candid shots in an unintrusive manner, although it will teach you these things.
This book explores in-depth both the conceptual and the technical, while Street Photography Conversations interviews nine street photographers with diverse content, styles, and ways of working.
9. “The Street Photographer’s Manual” by David Gibson David Gibson.
The Street Photography Manual guides the reader through a series of fully illustrated tutorials, including how to photograph a face in a crowd and how to train your eye to observe and capture the unexpected. Readers will be inspired by some of the best street photographers in the world, and then create their own memorable images.
10. “Street Photography: The Art of Capturing the Candid Moment” by Gordon
Lewis Gordon Lewis takes us on a broad education through the world of street photography, from the essentials skills necessary to the different styles of street photography. This book covers a wide variety of important topics on the genre.
