One of my long-time hobbies tangential to night photography is collecting photography books, and monographs by night photographers in particular. I’m not often in a position to buy original prints of photographers’ work that I enjoy, so books are a great way to have easy access to that work.
Yes, I could look at their photographs online, but it’s a very different experience to view images on paper rather than on a screen. There’s something inherently more satisfying about holding a well-printed book in your hands and settling down in a comfortable chair in good light, and just sitting with the images. No distractions.
Regular readers of this blog will know that I’m a student of the history of night photography, as one of my favorite topics to write about is my “Muses From the Past” series on the pioneers of the genre. Books have been my primary research tool for this project, as many of the lesser-known photographers of yore don’t have much of an internet presence!
Additionally, over the course of my years of researching the subject, I’ve accumulated quite a collection of out of print photo books by photographers both famous and obscure. I have pretty much every how-to book on night photography that’s ever been published, and a good number of biographies and autobiographies of photographers.
I have to confess that I only recently unpacked all of my photo books after having them in storage for over a year while renovating my house. I haven’t taken time to sit and look at them in quite a while. Shameful, I know––what with all of these extra months at home recently. But spend time with these old friends I have, and will again.
In this post, I’ll share some of my favorites with you, and some resources you might wish to explore should you get the chance. Here in chronological order are 10 of my favorite night photography books. Many are out of print and some are rather scarce or expensive, but some can be acquired quite reasonably.
Paris de Nuit, by Brassai, 1932
The first book of exclusively night photographs, Paris de Nuit, was initially published in photogravure in 1932. The Hungarian painter turned photographer Brassai captured candid views of the seedy underbelly of Parisian nightlife at an extraordinary time in the city of light. The version I have was published in 1987, also as photogravure, and is much better and truer to the original than the even more recently published reprint. The next two books on this list were inspired by this one. It is a must for any night photo library.
London Night, Howard Burdekin and John Morrison, 1934
I was unaware of these two and their amazing work until a friend gave me a copy we found together at a used bookstore in San Francisco. The London Night introduction quotes the introduction to Brassai’s book, and it’s also printed in photogravure. Never reprinted, copies have recently become scarce. Another must-have.
A Night in London, by Bill Brandt, 1938
Bill Brandt was in Paris—working as Man Ray’s assistant of all things—during the time when Brassai was photographing for Paris de Nuit. He was so inspired by Brassai’s work that he recreated one of the photographs of a Parisian streetwalker using his wife as a model. A Night in London has also never been reprinted, and copies start at about $2,000. Nope, I don’t have my own copy, but I’ve spent some time with one at the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas at Austin. Truth be told, I prefer Burdekin and Morrison’s version of London at night.
Diesels and Dinosaurs, Steve Fitch, 1976
Perhaps the original “urban explorer,” Steve Fitch began documenting his travels in the American West at 21, but the Diesels and Dinosaurs project took root on family trips in a 1951 Buick when he was a child. Long out of print, and hard to find, this book of roadside attractions/distractions paved the way for later photographers such as Troy Paiva (Lost America).
Photographs, Richard Misrach, 1975-1987, 1988
Richard Misrach is considered one of the most important American photographers of the second half of the 20th century, and he was one of several Bay Area photographers responsible for the explosion of the night photography scene in the 1970s and 80s. This hard-to-find paperback of his early work includes medium format black and white night images of the California desert and Stonehenge, and large format color images from Greece, Louisiana, Los Angeles and Hawaii. Photographs also marked the beginning of his decades-long “Desert Cantos” series. Misrach does not have much of an internet presence; unless you can see original prints in a gallery, books are the best way to see his work.
Frontier New York, Jan Staller, 1988
Jan Staller’s Frontier New York collection is of night and twilight images of the industrial wastelands on the outskirts of New York, in square format images shot on color negative film in the late 1970s and early 80s. These images, along with those from the next book on the list, have influenced my own work more than anything else. I first saw both books in Steve Harper’s Night Photography class in San Francisco.
Night Walk, Michael Kenna, 1988
The great Michael Kenna’s first book. Night Walk is one of many, making it hard to choose which one(s) to mention in a “top 10” list. Included are early 35mm images from Venice, France and his native England, especially the mills of Yorkshire and Lancashire that Brandt had photographed in the 1930s.
Steam, Steel, and Stars, O. Winston Link, 1987, 1998
There are several books of O. Winston Link’s iconic train images made along the Norfolk and Western line from 1955-60, but Steam, Steel, and Stars concentrates on the night images, and is readily available. Originally published in 1987 and reprinted in 1998, both versions are available on the used market. I have the later version.
Washington by Night, Volkmar Wentzel, 1992
Volkmar Wentzel’s images on Washington, D.C., were made in the late 1930s while he was working in the darkroom for National Geographic. He too had been inspired by Brassai’s Paris De Nuit, and the images in Washington by Night were originally published in a 1941 edition of National Geographic. The book wasn’t published until 1992. Affordable copies are available from online booksellers, including Amazon.
Night Work, Michael Kenna, 2000
Kenna has published more than 30 books, but this and Night Walk are the only ones that include exclusively night photographs. Night Work is a survey of Kenna’s nocturnal images from 1978-2000, and it includes an interview with Tim Baskerville of the Nocturnes.
I could go on and on. It was difficult to exclude quite a few important works from this list. They range from personal favorites by friends and colleagues, such as Troy Paiva’s Lost America, Tom Paiva’s Industrial Night, Ken Lee’s Abandoned Southern California or William Lesch’s Expansions, as well as critically acclaimed work such as Robert Adams’ Summer Nights or Neil Folberg’s groundbreaking film/digital composites in Celestial Nights: Visions of an Ancient Land. There are so many more. Jeff Brouws’ Starlight on the Rails is a loving record of the work of many of the other mid-century train photographers aside from O. Winston Link. I covet them all.
With many of these being so rare, where can you find and buy them? Aside from Amazon and eBay (eBay tends to be overpriced for books) here are a few great stores for photography books:
the venerable Photo Eye in Santa Fe
Timothy Whelan Photography Fine Photographic Prints and Books in Rockport, Maine
East Village Books in Manhattan
Harvard Book Store in Cambridge, Massachusetts
Powell’s Books in Portland, Oregon
Arcana: Books on the Arts in Culver City, California
Green Apple Books in San Francisco (a small chain of great local bookstores where you could easily spend an afternoon)
Want to look but not buy? There are several under-appreciated but outstanding photography libraries you can visit, including:
Photo Resource Center in Boston
Maine Media Workshops + College in Camden
the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas at Austin
I have to warn you though, photography books are addictive. Start with one or two of the volumes on this list, and before you know it, you’ll own most of them. When you travel to a new city, you’ll add used bookstores to the list of places you have to visit. And that’s a good thing.
Note: You can see these books and many more on a brand new page of the National Parks at Night website: our Photography Bookshelf. Here you can peruse the volumes that the five of us love and recommend. You can also find links to learn more and/or purchase all the books mentioned above.
