Bygone Days, by John Penor and Steven Sebring

in

Why?

“My friend and frequent collaborator Steven Sebring discovered an extraordinary collection of photographs taken by his grand uncle, John Penor, who was born in 1910 and lived his entire life on his family's homestead in Bison, South Dakota. Penor was a cowboy, but the way he captured the seasonal life of Bison — from rodeos to family gatherings to the epic landscape — shows that he was a natural artist. I’m drawn to the simplicity and authenticity of these moments - so perfectly imperfectly captured. It’s a small miracle that Steven happened upon this long forgotten box of photographs in a drawer to turn it into such a beautiful and meaningful book, which Penor lived to see published at 95 years old. Patti Smith's foreword so eloquently describes Penor’s photographs as “the most heartbreakingly beautiful shots of sandlot baseball I’ve ever seen — makes me feel like time lost was found again.”
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- Kathryn MacLeod, Producer

Untouched, by Guy Bourdin

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Why?

“Like everyone, I’m a fan of the mad genius of Guy Bourdin, so it was a revelation to discover this book of Bourdin’s early black and white work and see how he developed his photographic eye. I love a glimpse into a photographer’s process, and it is a treat to see Bourdin’s early contact sheets —with his china-marked crops and notes which show his brilliant sense of composition. Always ahead of his time, he would create the most striking layouts by cutting out the contacts and taping images to the page. Everything in this book is pure heaven to me.”
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- Kathryn MacLeod, Producer

Southwest, by Paul Strand

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Why?

“Wow, do I love this gorgeous book. Strand’s journeys brought him from his native New York to New Mexico, where he explored the land, the sky, the architecture, the religion... Strand’s portraits of his wife, Rebecca, in Taos, are sublime — the spread on pages 40/41 — sigh. I grew up in the southwest, and these photographs make me long for home.”
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- Kathryn MacLeod, Producer

The Unretouched Woman, by Eve Arnold

in

Why?

“Eve Arnold’s story is just as inspiring as her iconic images, which always bring joy and a sense of wonder. She was largely self-taught; as a 38-year-old Long Island housewife, she took a 6-week photography course; followed by her first reportage work: a groundbreaking behind the scenes look at a Harlem fashion show in 1950, a story that led to her association with Magnum in 1951 — she was the first woman to join the collective. She was a natural; the level of intimacy and trust she achieved with her subjects resonates in every frame. Arnold’s own words best describe my sentiments about this influential book: ‘This is a book about how it feels to be a woman, seen through the eyes and the camera of one woman — images unretouched, for the most part unposed, and unembellished.’ And the cover — with those stacks of color slides from everywhere from Afghanistan to Phoenix — can’t be beat.

P.S. Arnold was in her sixties before she decided to publish her first book!! #BeLikeEve and remember that it is never too late to publish your book!”
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- Kathryn MacLeod, Producer

Georgia O'Keeffe: A Portrait, by Alfred Stieglitz

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Why?

“I’m borderline obsessed with Georgia O’Keefe — her art, her life, her style — and I especially love the photographs in this book for their exquisite intimacy and spectacular range — they were taken over a 20-year period. The portraits of O’Keefe are everything one wants a portrait to be — revealing, transcendent, of a time yet timeless. The images of her beautiful, expressive hands have a hypnotic poetry all their own.”
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- Kathryn MacLeod, Producer

Pilgrimage, by Annie Leibovitz

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Why?

“I’ve been lucky to work with Annie for over 20 years as she has gone about documenting many of the notable cultural figures of our time. Of course, her books hold a certain personal significance to me— from A Photographer’s Life to At Work but my favorite among them is Pilgrimage. This gorgeous book is a deeply personal statement to what has inspired, shaped and fulfilled her life as an artist. Her photographs of the ephemera that remains — from Virginia Woolf’s writing desk to Emily Dickinson’s Herbarium— were part of a project she undertook in response to a challenging time in her life — “an exercise in renewal,” she writes in the book’s essay, “looking at history provided a way of going forward.”
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- Kathryn MacLeod, Producer

Looking For Atlantis, by Colin Thompson

in

Why?

“This is the most deeply thumbed, crumbled, and torn book I own. I've had it since I was a child, and never really parted from it, always resting at a the bottom of a pile of books beside my bed. Thompson's illustrations have such a myriad of elements and tiny scenes playing across the page, that I'd spend hours studying & imagining myself forging a route across the complex drawings. It's a little creepy and odd but always paired with a sense of wonder and silliness which has always been something I would hope would register in my own work.”
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- Jack Davison, Photographer

Picasso At Work: A Photographic Study, by Edward Quinn

in

Why?

“I adore the cover and the view into Picasso's household and the sense of exuberant creation and spirit within. It's such a beautiful collection of snapshots of his studios, house and details moments of creative development and really champions Picasso's inventive wit. Setting aside the darker sides of his character, the idea that an artist can be so free and humorous when working is really important to me, it's really vital to me that I don't take myself too seriously. That my work can hopefully be made instantaneous and not overly constructed, described or pondered over.”
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- Jack Davison, Photographer

Least Wanted: A Century of American Mugshots, by Mark Michaelson

in

Why?

“I met Mark through my mentor Brett Walker, it was one of the earliest books I remember being handed in Brett's flat. It's an incredible document of human faces, expressions and emotions - and I'd never seen anything like it. It instilled me with Marks own curatorial spirit and I've always been picking up and searching for found photographs. Images that were created with a myriad of purposes (none of them really artistic), but with the passage of time can be seen in a different & beautiful manner years later. Least Wanted has always been the book I return to most frequently and the one I'd be the saddest to lose.”
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- Jack Davison, Photographer

Money Must Be Made, by Lorenzo Vitturi

in

Why?

“This book reinforces the notion that power lies with the people. A study of reverse gentrification, Vitturri carefully documents the second biggest street market in West Africa and how it has reclaimed the business district forcing many corporations out of its busy environs. Perhaps it's the rebel in me, but this book made me proud to see the blatant defiance of the market people who truly hold all the power in this area. The images are sculptural, whimsical, and breathtaking.”
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- Wunika Mukan, Curator

Delta Nigeria - The Rape of Paradise, by George Osodi

in

Why?

“This was the first photo book I ever owned. It was signed and given to me by my dear friend George Osodi, who I did not realize at the time as one of Africa’s most prolific and important documenters. I knew he traveled a lot and his photography was revered, but until I opened this book I did not realize every time George was away he was putting his life in serious danger in the Niger Delta capturing what we (Nigerians) and the rest of the world were doing to destroy his hometown all in the name of crude oil. How can something as tragic and devastating as impoverished inhabitants forgotten in their poisoned environment be so poetically breathtaking at the same time. I became hooked on photography after this book was placed in my hands.”
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- Wunika Mukan, Curator

This is What Hatred Did, by Cristina de Middel

in

Why?

“The combination of Amos Tutola's text, Cristina de Middel's images and Makoko, a Lagos based water community built on stilts, is pure magic. It remains difficult for me to list a more breath taking interpretation of this part of Lagos which holds so much history, tension and mystery. This book inspired me to take another look at Lagos my home, and question what I considered its magic.”
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- Wunika Mukan, Curator

The Art of Advertising, by George Lois

in

Why?

“This is a big coffee table book. It was a big inspiration for me, and later I got to meet him through David Hershkovits at PAPER Magazine. He knew I was a big fan of him, so he brought me to interview George for his paperback book. I liked the Esquire covers that George is famous for. They were really interesting—the imagery, doing the unthinkable, like putting Sonny Liston with Andy Warhol. There was a whole big thing when the book came out, that it was like a handbook for creative people. Everyone that interviewed him was like, ‘Oh, the original Mad Man.’ And he hated that. He hated that show, he said it was such bullshit. I think I brought it up and he started cursing so hard he was spitting. He was like, ‘That fucking bullshit!’ I love that he was a tough guy.”
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- Ricky Powell, Photographer

Greenwich Village from 1963, by Fred McDarrah

in

Why?

“Well, you know, I'm a Village kid. And his pictures of the Village back then, like from '63, were raw. He was shooting a lot of the artists that were hanging outside of the buildings. People on the corner of 8th and Macdougal, there's a coffee shop right now, it was the 8th Street Bookstore. And people used to go there to fucking put like a crate down, and stand up, and start ranting about shit. Like socialism, and Marxism. It's like the Bible for me. I got it signed by him before he died, like ten years ago.”
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- Ricky Powell, Photographer

Linda McCartney’s Sixties: Portraits of an Era, by Linda McCartney

in

Why?

“It really struck me because she was low-key. She wasn't all dolled up. She was Plain Jane. And the photographs were mostly famous people, but they weren't pretentious photos. I liked that she was like, ‘You know, yeah. I took the train, or I went for a walk with so-and-so.’ They were simple, and I really liked it.”
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- Ricky Powell, Photographer

Aperture 223: Vision & Justice, by Aperture

in

Why?

“Aperture 223: Vision & Justice should be required reading in classrooms across the country. Addressing the role of photography in the African-American experience, this issue of Aperture draws on the past and considers the future to create something incredibly timely and relevant in our present complicated time.”
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- Katherine Pomerantz, Director of Photography

Wonderland: A Fairytale of the Soviet Monolith, by Jason Eskenazi

in

Why?

“Turning the pages of Wonderland always makes me feel like Alice dropping down the rabbit hole. I am astounded by Eskenazi's ability to arrange the world in a way that is somehow both surreal and strange while still familiar and personal. I’ve returned to Wonderland over and over through the years and love it more each time.”
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- Katherine Pomerantz, Director of Photography

American Index of the Hidden and Unfamiliar, by Taryn Simon

in

Why?

“I was blindsided by Taryn Simon’s “American Index of the Hidden and Unfamiliar.” It is such a conceptually complex project that depends upon the seeming simplicity of the images. It is difficult to comprehend the persistence and passion needed to peel back the layers of access that were required of this project. This is the work of someone who sees endless possibility in the impossible.”
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- Katherine Pomerantz, Director of Photography