779. Books on photographic images

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Further Reading:

Yann Arthus-Bertrand Our Living Earth: A Story of People, Ecology, and Preservation, 2008.

In 1994, Yann Athus-Bertrand started a project for UNESCO to photograph some of the most stunning landscapes on the planet from his perch in helicopters and hot-air balloons. This companion volume to the resulting book The Earth from Above discusses human activity’s impact on the planet since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution.

Gail Buckland Who Shot Sports: A Photographic History, 1843 to the Present, 2016.

Gail Buckland, a former curator of the Royal Photographic Society of Great Britain, brings together the work of 165 photographers who snapped photos of athletes, both famous and unknown, on and off the field.

Arnold Genthe and John Kuo Wei Genthe’s Photographs of San Francisco’s Old Chinatown, 1984.

Arnold Genthe shot these rare photographs of San Francisco’s Chinatown before the 1906 great earthquake and fire leveled the area. At the time, Genthe was a German immigrant who came to the city to tutor the son of an aristocratic family. He became fascinated by Tangrenbu, as the area was called, and went there often to document what he found in these photographs.

Steve Gottlieb Abandoned America, 2002.

While traveling across America, award-winning photographer Steve Gottlieb captures haunting images of forgotten times. He snaps images of abandoned buildings, equipment, and other items that were once common but are no longer in use.

Eric Greitens Strength and Compassion: Photographs and Essays by Eric Greitens, 2008.

Award-winning photographer Eric Greitens shares people’s struggles from Rwanda to Bolivia, accompanied by essays on topics like “Dignity” and “Hope.”

Igor Kostin Chornobyl: Confessions of a Reporter, 2006.

When the nuclear reactor in Chornobyl exploded in April 1986, it wasn’t just a local event. The resulting release of radiation spread globally. Photographer Igor Kostin was there to capture it all. His photographs were of the accident’s aftermath and visits around Russia and Ukraine to Sweden and France, where he documented the social, political, and medical fallout.

Thomas D. Mangelsen The Last Great Wild Places: Forty Years of Wildlife Photography by Thomas D. Mangelsen, 2014.

Like many nature photographers, Thomas D. Mangelsen is also a fierce conservationist. The legendary photographer takes you on a journey that spans forty years he spent capturing elephants below Kilimanjaro in Africa to polar bears in the Arctic. This is a celebration of our planet’s fast-disappearing beauty and a call to action to save what we can while we can.

Lisa Woollett Sea Journal, 2016.

After wandering the British coast for a year, Lisa Woollett shares the sights she captured in the wild. They are taken from her kayak, from sea caves, and cliffs. She captures wonders found readily by anyone with the time and inclination to look.

For more information on the Further Reading Series, see Further Reading: Start Here.