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Anonymous
technical:
the ansel adams series (the camera, the negative, the print, available light photography, making of 40 photographs) covers everything up to digital photography, which you should be using the internet for anyway.
mountain light by galen rowell. terrific landscape photos, with a pretty good amount of technical how-to. Reads sort of like a jack london-meets-ansel-adams.
history/criticism/visual:
The Photo Book by Phaidon is the first thing EVERYONE should buy after they get a camera. It's basically a catalog of 500 influential photographers with 500 photographs. Consider it your guide to a world outside of floral photography and snapshots of your girlfriend.
criticizing photographs, by terry barrett. required reading for all fine art photography students. not so much a "wrong f/stop moron" and more a "what does your photograph say?" book.
depth of field, by a.d. coleman. Another must-read by anyone who owns a camera. A.D. Coleman is a ruthless, snarky son of a bitch who'll make you want to smash your own camera and never want to call yourself a photographer again, and he's one of the few critics actually worth reading. An insider in the New York scene, he's got fascinating insight into and contempt for: MoMA, John Szarkowski, Ansel Adams, Susan Sontag, amateurs who shoot 35mm, most landscape photography, most color photography, himself, other critics, the gallery system, and pretty much the whole fucking process. He'll destroy your self-esteem, but that's a crucial first step in becoming even a halfway decent photographer. Honest to god, track down this guy's books.
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