Photography Books...

Of all my purchases in cameras, lenses, darkroom equipment and film, nothing brings me the joy of a great photography book.  I have collected well over 70 books, some are good, others are absolutely mesmerizing.  One of my favorite pastimes is getting up early on a Sunday morning, making a hot cup of coffee and sitting back to look over one of the books in my collection.

For a few dollars you get untold hours of enjoyment, you are transported to amazing places and meet some of the most interesting people.  But most importantly, I cannot lift a great photography book and not feel inspired to pick up my camera and make something. 

Several years ago, I discovered the work of Lartigue and bought a few of his books.  Henri Lartigue was a master photographer, but unlike most of the photographers that inspire me, Lartigue was an amateur and was only discovered late in life, thanks largely to Richard Avedon.  After reading the book, "Lartigue The Boy and the Belle Époque" by Louise Baring (Thames & Hudson), I developed a deeper interest in his work and began hunting some more of his books.

I was eager to try to get one of his first published books which came out in 1970 and is one of the few written by him, in his own contemporary (at least for the 1970's) words.  The book is titled "Diary of a Century Jacques Henri Lartigue" and you see some of his favorite works. 

The problem was that I could not find this book for anything less than USD 300.  This surprised me as it is not a really sought after book but it got me looking at all photography books and I began to notice the prices of them have skyrocketed of late. When I began looking at books I recently purchased, what used to go for USD 50 or 70 is now twice that. The older the books the higher the price, almost irrespective of their quality or condition. 

After much searching I found a copy of my Diary book for USD 100 and purchased it right away.  The condition was better than I had thought so I am thrilled with the purchase but saddened that my ability to acquire more books has been so reduced.  What I can tell you is that there are still good bargains to be had, but you need to search much more than just a few months ago.  When you find one, look at the seller's other items as there are some hidden treasures out there...just really hard to find.