MY BOOKS -1
On my bookshelves are around 4 meters of photographic literature, and I have here chosen a small part of it to mention here. Most of my books are from the last century: I now mostly use the internet to watch images and get inspired.
Posted december 2024
Krass Clement: Hvor ingen talte / Where nobody spoke.
We are in Moscow on the 24’th of August 1991. There had been a failed coup d’etat in Russia and 3 victims were buried that day. People lined up at the edge of a park where the funeral procession passed. Krass Clement has managed to get up close to people and still be unnoticed. Street or documentary photography when it is best. Just a little text and in Danish.
Cindy Sherman: Photoarbeiten 1975-1995.
An important contribution to art photography from the last century. In her images she has the leading role, she arranges, and she presses the shutter button. Her world of motifs knows no limits and is far from traditional and she converts our expectations, our nightmares and secret lust into images. A totally strange but also relevant and attractive book. Text in German.
Jan Grarup: Mærket for Livet / Marked for life.
Tattoos among the soldiers of The Danish Royal Guard. Danish soldiers have through a couple of decades been sent to trouble spots around the world. The book portrays or describes the tattoos that the soldiers have got under and after the missions. More than 60 soldiers show and explain the text and symbols that have been tattooed on their bodies. Jan Grarup – the Danish World Press Photo winner – has made a remarkable and different book. Text in Danish.
Jens Hasse and Tom Ingvardsen: Lourdes, Miraklernes By / Lourdes, City of Miracles.
Lourdes is a city at the foot of the French Pyrenees. It is the second biggest tourist attraction in France after Paris. In 1858 The Virgin Mary appeared before a young girl named Bernadette. Afterwards a well sprang at the place, and the water is said to have healing properties. Millions of pilgrims visit Lourdes every year in hope of getting healed. The 2 Danish photographers have made an excellent book about the city, the real belief and all the commercial stuff that comes along. Text in Danish.
In our Time: The World as seen by Magnum Photographers.
Magnum was founded in 1947 to ensure artistic freedom and to be able to control the rights to your work. The leading persons were Henri Cartier-Bresson and Robert Capa.
This – very heavy – book is a catalog from an international exhibition in 1989-1990, and the photographers have all been a member of Magnum, As the name says it’s a description of the world in the previous century, and the images are all excellent. Text in English.
Jacob Holdt: Amerikanske billeder / American images.
As a hippie, without money and without luggage apart from a shoulder bag, a cheap pocket camera and a flash, Jacob Holdt travelled for 5 years through USA. The book is an extension of a multimedia show he has held around Denmark in schools and associations.
It is not the quality of the images that make this book exiting, but more that he did it, and that he was able to make a portrait of all corners of the American society, but the main emphasis on the poor and black USA.
Jean-Claude Gautrand: Paris mon Amour.
Paris has for decades been my favorite city to visit, and this book takes me through the streets of Paris. Jean-Paul Gautrand has gathered a lot of images from famous photographers. There is a few images from the 19’th century and the rest are from th 20’th century. Wonderful images from a wonderful city. In the back of the book are biographies for all the photographers. Text in English.
