“What are the best books about the history of photography?” We looked at 12 different photography history books and came away with 139 different titles.
An article of words about books about pictures that are stationary shots of events in time. To be honest we aren’t really going anywhere with this, the list and the books on it speak for themselves, but going straight into a list can sometimes look awkward so that is why there is text here. If you enjoy early photography, collections of old photographs, the history of the craft, and anything else that has to do with the art and history of photography, you can find it in one of the books listed below.
Below you can find the top 12 photography history books with images and links, with the remaining 127 titles and the sources at the bottom of the page.
Happy Scrolling!
This brief title demonstrates greater emphasis on the most up-to-date learning techniques, allowing students to keep up with modern technology. A Short Course in Photography: Digital teaches readers to emphasize their choices in picture making by presenting in depth basic techniques of photography. In additional to covering the basic techniques of photography, this title covers the impact of computers on this important art form.
A follow-up to the successful and acclaimed “Best Business Practices for Photographers”, this updated and expanded edition serves as an even more comprehensive guide to achieving financial success and personal satisfaction in your business as a photographer. Included in this new edition are sections on licensing your work, making the career change from a staff photographer to a freelancer, surviving an IRS audit, and more. This book includes best practices in interacting with clients, negotiating contracts and licenses, and business operations. “Best Business Practices for Photographers, Second Edition” is the key to a successful career in photography.
“History of Photography” traces the development of the camera from the daguerreotype to the computer-analyses image, from Mathew Brady, Timothy O’Sullivan and Julia Margaret Cameron to Cecil Beaton, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Ansel Adams and David Bailey. Illustrated with over 300 duotones and color photographs, this book will delight everyone who owns a camera.
This text explores the photographic career of Man Ray whose fertile artistic impulse has made him equally celebrated as a painter, sculptor, writer and film-maker. Taking up photography in 1915 for the purpose of reproducing his paintings, he earned money doing the same for others when he went to live and work in Paris in 1921. This led to a career in photography ranging from portraits of celebrated artists, musicians and writers such as Andre breton, Marcel Duchamp, Erik Satie, Arnold Schoenberg, T.S. Elliot and Gertrude Stein, to the pictures using light effects outside the camera for which he is famous: cliche-verres, rayographs and solarizations. Alongside many of Man-Ray’s classic images, this collection presents a huge number of less familiar photographs, including portraits of Virginia Woolf and of Antonin Artaud and a large selection of erotic pictures. Most of these are from the collection of Lucien Treillard, a personal friend who worked with the artist over many years cataloguing and archiving his photographs.
Presents the history of photography from the daguerreotypes of the mid-1800s to its acceptance as an art form and more.
Gernsheim’s The Origins of Photography (also titled The History of Photography) is a standard work on photography’s history, made richer by Hugo Gernsheim’s long history as the world’s premier collector/archivist.
The Photographer’s Eye by John Szarkowski is a twentieth-century classic–an indispensable introduction to the visual language of photography. Based on a landmark exhibition at The Museum of Modern Art in 1964, and originally published in 1966, the book has long been out of print. It is now available again to a new generation of photographers and lovers of photography in this duotone printing that closely follows the original.
This edition of The Photography Book, containing every sort of photography, from pictures of famous events such as the Royal Wedding and the first landing on the moon, to familiar shots by the masters of photography such as Bill Brandt and Henri Cartier-Bresson.
Naomi Rosenblum’s classic text investigates all aspects of photography — aesthetic, documentary, commercial, and technical — while placing photos in their historical context. Included among the more than 800 photographs by men and women are both little-known and celebrated masterpieces, arranged in stimulating juxtapositions that illuminate their visual power. Authoritative and unbiased, Rosenblum’s chronicle of photography both chronologically and thematically traces the evolution of this still-young art form. Exploring the diverse roles that photography has played in the communication of ideas, Rosenblum devotes special attention to topics such as portraiture, documentation, advertising, and photojournalism, and to the camera as a means of personal artistic expression. The revised fourth edition includes updates on technical advances as well as a new chapter on contemporary photographers. Armed with the expressive vigor of its images, this thorough and accessible volume will appeal to all.
Available for the first time in a compact edition, this groundbreaking book presents a remarkable selection of contact sheets and ancillary material, revealing for the first time how the most celebrated Magnum photographers capture and edit the very best shots. Addressing key questions of photographic practice, the book illuminates the creative methods, strategies, and editing processes behind some of the world’s most iconic images.
One of the most highly regarded books of its kind, On Photography first appeared in 1977 and is described by its author as “a progress of essays about the meaning and career of photographs.” It begins with the famous “In Plato’s Cave”essay, then offers five other prose meditations on this topic, and concludes with a fascinating and far-reaching “Brief Anthology of Quotations.”
Since its first publication in 1937, this lucid and scholarly chronicle of the history of photography has been hailed as the classic work on the subject. No other book and no other author have managed to relate the aesthetic evolution of the art of photography to its technical innovations with such an absorbing combination of clarity, scholarship and enthusiasm. Through more than 300 works by such master photographers as William Henry Fox Talbot, Timothy O’Sullivan, Julia Margaret Cameron, Eugène Atget, Peter Henry Emerson, Alfred Stieglitz, Paul Strand, Alvin Langdon Coburn, Man Ray, Edward Weston, Dorothea Lange, Walker Evans, Ansel Adams, Brassaï, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Harry Callahan, Minor White, Robert Frank and Diane Arbus, author Beaumont Newhall presents a fascinating, comprehensive study of the significant trends and developments in the medium since the first photographs were made in 1839.
| 100 Ideas that Changed Photography | Mary Warner Marien | All About Photo |
| 100 Photographs That Changed The World | Popular Photography | |
| 125 Photographs | Edward Weston | Gear Patrol |
| A History of Photography: From 1839 to the … | TASCHEN | Photonlab |
| A Life in Photography: 1968-2008 | Joyce Tenneson | Popular Photography |
| A New History of Photography | Art-Support | |
| All About Eve | Eve Arnold | Gear Patrol |
| An American Century of Photography | Art-Support | |
| An Ounce of Preservation : A Guide to the Care of Papers and Photographs | Art-Support | |
| Andreas Gursky | Andreas Gursky | Gear Patrol |
| Ansel Adams at 100 | Ansel Adams | Popular Photography |
| Arizona Real Photo Postcards A History & Portfolio | Jeremy Rowe | Bored Feet |
| Art after Modernism: Rethinking Representation | Brian Wallis | Questia |
| Art and Photography | David Campany | Tim Ashley Photography |
| Art History and Its Institutions: Foundations of a Discipline | Elizabeth Mansfield | Questia |
| Avedon Fashion | Richard Avedon | Gear Patrol |
| Basic 35mm Photo Guide: For Beginning Photographers | Craig Alesse | Hongkiat |
| Believing Is Seeing: Observations on the Mysteries of Photography | Errol Morris | Moorpark College Photography |
| Between Amateur and Aesthete: The Legitimization of Photography as Art in America, 1880-1900 | Paul Spencer Sternberger | Questia |
| Bill Brandt: Shadow and Light | Bill Brandt | Gear Patrol |
| Brassai, Paris | Brassai | Gear Patrol |
| Camera Lucida | Roland Barthes | Moorpark College Photography |
| Capa in Color | Robert Capa | Gear Patrol |
| Caring for Your Family Treasures: Heritage Preservation | Art-Support | |
| Chromes | William Eggleston | Gear Patrol |
| Classic Essays on Photography | Photonlab | |
| Collector’s Guide to Early Photographs | Art-Support | |
| Color Management in Digital Photography | Brad Hinkel | Hongkiat |
| Complete Digital Photography | Ben Long | Hongkiat |
| Creative Black & White: Digital Photography Tips and Techniques | Harold Davis | Hongkiat |
| Criticizing Photographs | Terry Barrett | Moorpark College Photography |
| Dassonville California Photographer (1879-1957) | Peter Palmquist; Researched and edited by Susan Herzig and Paul Hertzmann | Bored Feet |
| David Busch’s Mastering Digital SLR Photography | David D. Busch | Hongkiat |
| Diane Arbus: An Aperture Monograph | Diane Arbus | Gear Patrol |
| Digital Photography in Easy Steps | Nick Vandome | Hongkiat |
| Digital Photography Visual Quick Tips | Gregory Georges | Hongkiat |
| Drive | Andrew Bush | Gear Patrol |
| Edge of the Earth, Corner of the Sky | Popular Photography | |
| Extraordinary Everyday Photography | Brenda Tharp and Jed Manwaring | Hongkiat |
| Family Photographs: Content, Meaning and Effect | Julia Hirsh | Open Learn |
| Fashion Spreads: Word and Image in Fashion Photography since 1980 | Paul Jobling | Questia |
| Galen Rowell: A Retrospective | Galen Rowell | Popular Photography |
| Georgia O’Keeffe A Portrait | Alfred Stieglitz | Gear Patrol |
| Great Spirit North American Indian Portraits | Edward McAndrews | Bored Feet |
| Halsman: A Retrospective | Philippe Halsman | Gear Patrol |
| Handbook of American Popular Culture | M. Thomas Inge | Questia |
| Heaven to Hell | David LaChappelle | Gear Patrol |
| How to Photograph Absolutely Everything | Tom Ang | Hongkiat |
| Images of the Seventh Day | Michael Kenna | Gear Patrol |
| In Focus: National Geographics Greatest Portraits | Hongkiat | |
| Infra | Richard Mosse | Gear Patrol |
| Inside Amateur Photography | Dave Kenyon | Open Learn |
| Invisible City | Ken Schles | Gear Patrol |
| Irving Penn: Platinum Prints | Popular Photography | |
| Larry Burrows: Vietnam | Larry Burrows | Gear Patrol |
| Let Us Now Praise Famous Men | Walker Evans | Gear Patrol |
| LIFE 100 Photographs that Changed the World | Hongkiat | |
| Light Science & Magic | Fil HUnter, Steven Biver and Paul Fuqua | Moorpark College Photography |
| Looking at Photographs: 100 Pictures from t… | John Szarkowski | Photonlab |
| Lyle Rexer: The Edge of Vision: The Rise of… | Lyle Rexer | Photonlab |
| Mapplethorpe Robert Mapplethorpe | Robert Mapplethorpe | Popular Photography |
| McDermott & McGough : A History of Photography | Art-Support | |
| Mexican Suite : A History of Photography in Mexico | Art-Support | |
| Modernism Rediscovered | Julius Schulman | Gear Patrol |
| Night Photography: Finding Your Way in the Dark | Lance Keimig | Hongkiat |
| Okavango | Frans Lanting | Gear Patrol |
| On the Margins of Art Worlds | Larry Gross | Questia |
| Paolo Roversi: Studio | Paolo Roversi | Popular Photography |
| Paul Strand in Mexico | Paul Strand | Gear Patrol |
| Photo Wisdom | Lewis Blackwell | Tim Ashley Photography |
| Photographers in Arizona 1850-1920 A History and Directory | Jeremy Rowe | Bored Feet |
| Photographic Portraiture and the Forgetting of Colour | Smith, Lindsay | Questia |
| Photographs 1970-1990 | Annie Leibovitz | Popular Photography |
| Photography | Barbara London, Jim Stone and John Upton | Moorpark College Photography |
| Photography – A Concise History | Ian Jeffrey | Open Learn |
| Photography (7th Edition) | Art-Support | |
| Photography Changes Everything | Marvin Heiferman | Moorpark College Photography |
| Photography in Print | Vicki Goldberg | Reframe |
| Photospeak: A Guide to the Ideas, Movements, and Techniques of Photography, 1839 to the Present | Art-Support | |
| Revisions: An Alternative History of Photography | Art-Support | |
| Richard Avedon Photographs 1946-2004 | Richard Avedon | Popular Photography |
| Say Cheese: The Snapshot as Art and Social History | Graham King | Open Learn |
| Seizing the Light: A History of Photography | Art-Support | |
| Shooting in Sh*tty Light | Lindsay Adler and Erik Valind | Hongkiat |
| Shooting War: Photography and the American Experience of Combat | Susan D. Moeller | Questia |
| Small Trades | Irving Penn | Gear Patrol |
| Sumo | Helmut Newton | Popular Photography |
| Survey | Bruce Davidson | All About Photo |
| The Americans | Robert Frank | Gear Patrol |
| The Best of Leifer | Neil Leifer | Gear Patrol |
| The Bikeriders | Danny Lyon | Gear Patrol |
| The Birth of Photography 1800-1900 | Brian Coe | Open Learn |
| The Camera | Ansel Adams | Popular Photography |
| The Camera as Conscience | Eugene Smith | Popular Photography |
| The Contest of Meaning | Richard Bolton | Moorpark College Photography |
| The Decisive Moment | Henri Cartier-Bresson | Gear Patrol |
| The Digital Photography Boxed Set, Volumes 1, 2, and 3 | Scott Kelby | Hongkiat |
| The Early Years | Andre Kertesz | Gear Patrol |
| The Genius of Photography | Gerry Badger | Tim Ashley Photography |
| The History of Japanese Photography | Art-Support | |
| The Iconic Photographs | Steve McCurry | Gear Patrol |
| The Image Factory: Consumer Culture, Photography and the Visual Content Industry | Paul Frosh | Questia |
| The Lovely Sea View A Study of the Marine Photographs Published by Gustave Le Gray, 1856-1858 | Ken Jacobson | Bored Feet |
| The Man, The Image & The World: A Retrospective | Henri Cartier-Bresson | Popular Photography |
| The Moment In Clicks | Joe McNally | Popular Photography |
| The Nature of Photographs | Art-Support | |
| The Negative | Ansel Adams | Popular Photography |
| The Photobook: A History | Martin Parr | Reframe |
| The Photograph as Contemporary Art | Charlotte Cotton | Moorpark College Photography |
| The Photographic Essay | William Albert Allard | Popular Photography |
| The Photography Handbook | Terence Wright | Questia |
| The Picture History of Photography | Peter Pollock | Open Learn |
| The Print | Ansel Adams | Popular Photography |
| The Printed Picture | Reframe | |
| The Remarkable Carlo Gentile Pioneer Italian Photographer | Cesare Marino | Bored Feet |
| The Routledge Companion to Aesthetics | Berys Gaut; Dominic McIver Lopes | Questia |
| The Savage View Charles Savage, Pioneer Mormon Photographer | Bradley W. Richards, M.D. | Bored Feet |
| The Story of Popular Photography | Colin Ford | Open Learn |
| This is War | Robert Capa | Popular Photography |
| To Light Such a Candle: Chapters in the History of Science and Technology | Keith J. Laidler | Questia |
| Tony Northrup’s DSLR Book: How to Create Stunning Digital Photography | Hongkiat | |
| Understanding Exposure | Bryan Peterson | Hongkiat |
| Walker Evans: The Magazine Work | David Campany | Reframe |
| Ward 81 | Mary Ellen Mark | Popular Photography |
| Ways of Seeing | John Berger | Moorpark College Photography |
| Workers | Sebastiao Salgado | Popular Photography |
| Young Meteors: British Photojournalism 1957-1965 | Martin Harrison | Open Learn |
| Source | Article |
| All About Photo | Great Books on Photography History |
| Art-Support | The History Photography |
| Bored Feet | Photography history books |
| Gear Patrol | 30 Awe-Inspiring Photography Books |
| Hongkiat | 20 Books To Understanding Photography You Can Buy |
| Moorpark College Photography | Suggested Books |
| Open Learn | History of photography |
| Photonlab | Recommended books on the History of Photography |
| Popular Photography | 26 Books Every Photographer Should Own |
| Questia | History of Photography |
| Reframe | 5 Books For Expanding Your Photography Knowledge |
| Tim Ashley Photography | Some Useful Books for Fine Art Photographers |
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