Bruce Gilden - A Beautiful Catastrophe

Bruce Gilden on Magum website

"A Beautiful Catastrophe" is the craziest photography book I have seen so far. I just bought it second hand on Amazon for less than £10 and it was a great buy. In this book Bruce shoots in the streets of New York with a Leica camera. He shoots strangers. He doesn't ask for permission. And he uses a flash on cord. He is big and scares lots of people suddenly jumping in front of them and blinding them with his flash. Crazy stuff.

and he says: "I'm known for taking pictures very close, and the older I get, the closer I get." yeah, we can see that.

Josef Koudelka - Exiles

Josef Koudelka on Magnum website

Exiles is one of my favourite photography books. I don't own it. It is out of print, expensive now and very hard to get. When I worked at the university in Hong Kong they had this book in the library and I borrwed it several times. And I felt in love with his images, some of the photos stay in my mind, like the old guys pissing in the alley, the gypsy man throwning up a small ball with a horse in the background or Koudelka's wrist with the watch in the window. You just can't forget his photos. and he himself is a very special person, people say that because of his lifestyle he is one of Gypsies.

and I have just placed an order on his "Koudelka" book, published by Hudson & Thames, to have it before it is sold out. The US edition of this book published by Aperture is sold out now and can be bought only from various book sellers for at least £100.

Nikos Economopoulos - In The Balkans

Nikos Economopoulos

Nikos is another Magnum photographer presented here. His "In the Balkans" book is one of my favourite photography books - I love his sense of humour and the situations he captures and priceless, it is a great collection of decisive moments. The book was published in 1995, it is out of print now there are some second hand copies available on Amazon. I got mine copy in very good condition for about 10 pounds, a great deal.

Jessica Dimmock - The Ninth Floor

http://www.jessicadimmock.com/

Jessica is a young American photographer. Last year she received a prestigeous Inge Morath Award for her project "The Ninth Floor". Stunning work.
I am wondering what camera or film she used, as the images are rather noisy (or grainy). But this noise adds so much to the atmosphere of the story. This project reminds me a bit work of Eugene Richards from his "Cocaine true, cocaine blue" book. I wish I was able to get that close to people as them.

David Alan Harvey - Cuba

David Alan Harvey is another master of colour, light and composition. He is also a master of befriending people and then capturing their emotions. David was first a National Geographic photographer, then he joined Magnum. Now he is a NatGeo and Magnum photographer, would you dream about anything more? David is also a vivid teacher and promoteur of young photographers. He is also a passionate blogger - his blog is currently one of the most read photography blogs on the Internet.

Cuba was his first book published in 1999 by National Geographic Society, make sure you have it, you can buy it cheap on Amazon.

Joachim Ladefoged - Albanians

http://www.joachimladefoged.com/

Joachim is a young guy from Denmark. He went to Kosovo several times during the confict there, between 1997 and 2000 and took some fantastic photos there, published in a book "The Albanians". then he was a nominee at MAGNUM, was sort of kicked out from there and finally joined VII agency and he is happy to be there. I would be as well. He does not want to go to wars anymore, he has a family now. and Joachim once revieviewed my portfolio after the VII photo seminar in London.

Alex Webb - Hot Light / Half-Made Worlds

Alex Webb - he is a master of light, colour and composition. Hot Light / Half-Made Worlds published in 1986 (so he was 34 then) is his first book. It is out of print now, the second hand ones are expensive and not easy to get, I am still hunting for it. It is the only one of his books I don't have at the moment.