This lovely hard cover book features 100 full-page photos on the right side of the page, and page of text about it on the left side of the page. I recognized 20 names on the list.  I’m still a novice when it comes to my photography education, so being introduced to 80 new (to me) photographers was a real pleasure.  All of the photos were interesting. Some of the photos were truly amazing and really moved and inspired me.  In a lot of photo books like these, the text is mostly filler, but not this book.  The text was super interesting, with the author usually giving information about the author’s life, a brief analysis of the photo, and the circumstances in which the photo was taken.  Trying to pick just one photo to represent a photographer’s entire oeuvre is an impossible task, as the author readily admits, but he does a pretty good job.  The only issue I have, and it’s not really an issue, is that some of the photos really couldn’t be considered “street photography”, at least by my definition (i.e. candid photos of people in a public setting that capture moments that usually fleeting).  Street photography is my preferred genre as a photographer, and I’m trying to learn as much as I can about it, so I probably would have enjoyed photos that adhered more to that definition.  But it really didn’t matter in the end.  The book was great all the way through, and I’d recommend it to anyone with an interest in photography.    

“Street Photography: A History in 100 Iconic Images” by David Gibson

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