Icons of Photography

– The 20th Century

Edited by Peter Stephan

Prestel 2005

This book is somewhat similar in concept to the two-book Photo Icons set (reviewed here) and was bought at the same time last year, with some of the dosh I received for my birthday.

In the book, Stephan presents a selection of just over 180 photographs that he considers to be important in 20th-century photography. Each is by a different photographer and reproduced on a full-page, together with notes about the picture, the photographer, and perhaps one or two small examples of the their other work.

Some of the pictures are also included in the photo icons books but many of them are new to this particular volume and I definitely don’t regret having bought both. Included in this book are pictures by photographers I had heard of and some, that I met for the first time.

One of these is Ralph Gibson, whose minimalist picture of a model’s eye and cheek graces the front cover of the book. Other other pictures I liked in the book were by Berenice Abbott, Martin Parr, Nan Goldin and Jeff Wall.

I was interested to see that one of them was taken by Ed van der Elsken in my home town, Durban, South Africa, around the time I was born. It shows a group of ladies sitting overlooking the sea on a bench, marked for the use of European (white) people only.

I thoroughly enjoyed Icons of Photography and got a lot of interesting information out of it plus the intangible benefit of looking at the work of acknowledged master photographers. There is always the hope that some of the greatness will rub off onto my own work.

Highly recommended!

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