Books & Magazines

Photo Books

• XXX 30 Porn Star Portraits (Timothy Greenfield-Sanders)
  Nowhere near as tacky as it sounds. A lovely book with two very simple portraits (one clothed and one nude) each of top porn stars. There is nothing pornographic or even erotic, just beautiful portraits.
• Cowboy Kate and Other Stories: Directors Cut (Sam Haskins)
  Pure nostalgia
• Fetish: The Best of International Contemporary Fetish Photography (Karsten Zang)
  Those who like good quality fetish photography will adore this stunning book. Those who "don't get" fetish probably won't.
• In the Blink of an Eye: The World as You've Never Seen It (John Brackenbury)
  What it says on the tin!
• Guy Bourdin (Alison Gingeras)
  GReat blend of fine art, commercial and fashion.
• Through the Lens: "National Geographic" Greatest Photographs (Leah Bendavid-Val)
  The name National Geographic has become synonymous with high quality photography for good reason. THis shows why.
• Agent Provocateur: The Four Dreams of Miss X (Agent Provocateur) (Book and DVD)
  In my humble opinion, Kate is the greatest of the supermodels. Forget what you read in the press, just concentrate on the great images which she consistently delivers.

Art, History & Critique Books

• The Photograph: A Visual and Cultural History (Graham Clarke)
• American Photography (Miles Orvell)
• Criticizing Photographs (Terry Barrett)
• The Tao of Photography: Seeing Beyond Seeing (Philippe L Gross)

Technical Books

• Langford's Basic Photography (8th Ed)
  I haven't read the new edition, but the 7th ed was a classic.
• Langford's Advanced Photography (7th Ed)
  Again, I've only read the previous edition, and can only assume this is even better.
• Photographing People: Portraits, Fashion, Glamour (Revised Edition) (Hicks, Schultz, Larg & Wood)
  A great introduction to how to light people. Although many of the examples are way over the top in terms of the equipment a beginner would have available, they illustrate the principles very well.
• Digital Portrait Photography and Lighting (Jamieson & McCormick)
  Possibly the best book I've read on lighting for portraits. Forget the word "digital" in the title. This is for everyone.
• Light: Science and Magic: An Introduction to Photographic Lighting (Hunter, Beaver & Fuqua)
  Haven't read this yet, only got it recently. It comes highly recommended and based on a quick flick through, it looks interesting.

Digital Editing

• Skin: The Complete Guide to Digitally Lighting, Photographing, and Retouching Faces and Bodies (Lee Varis)

Misc.

• The Photographer and the Law (Don Cassell)
  Based on UK law. An invaluable guide in these litigious and paranoid times.
• Photo Idea Index (Jim Krause)
  A great little book to help revitalise your creativity for those "there's nothing to shoot" days.

Magazines

Photographic

• Professional Photographer
• Amateur Photographer
• Shutterbug
• WIG Magazine

Non Photographic

Although not dedicated to photography per se these magazines continually deliver cutting edge, high quality images.

• Vogue
• Vanity Fair
• Elle
• National Geographic

Copyright Paul Flanagan 2008. All rights reserved. Unauthorised use or copying prohibited.