I’ve read this Looking at Photographs by John Szarkowski more times than I can remember. I’ve owned it for years and it never ceases to inspire. This book remains a classic because it provides one of the best summaries of the best American and European photography of the 19th and 20th century. John Szarkowski clearly loved photography, this shines through in his poetic and thoughtful writing. It’s not easy to make a survey of MOMA’s collection of photographs and condense it into a hundred images. It’s clear that Szarkowski worked diligently to try and find the one image that best summed up each artists life and ideas.
The book is mostly in chronological order, the first few images are of the early photographic processes like daguerreotypes and cyanotypes, and as the book proceeds the images get closer and closer to modern day (modern day being 1973 when the book was first published). One sad omission is the lack of color photography which as the author puts it is “… a complex and largely distinct issue that requires and deserves separate consideration.” Now that sentence really dates the book more than anything. I don’t know anyone today except for maybe Elliot Erwitt and Michael Kenna that feel as though color is a separate process from B&W. Not to mention the queer idea that the two are distinct. I consider the two to be intertwined, but perhaps that just shows my age.
Although I mentioned above that this book does a great job of showing the work of American and European photographers it doesn’t just focus on these regions. I first learned of the work of Ken Domon through this book. Domon’s image is from a series of portraits taken of Hiroshima survivors. This one image continues to inspire me more than just about any portrait I’ve ever seen. It’s vibrant, joyful, beautifully composed, and above all the people in the photograph share a kind of blissful acceptance to the condition that fell upon them. There’s a great term in Japanese which I feel this photograph encapsulates “Shikata ga nai” which as Wikipedia puts it…
“Shikata ga nai (仕方がない) is a Japanese phrase and cultural concept. The phrase means “it cannot be helped” or “nothing can be done about it”. Shikata ga nai implies a kind of hard work which is defined by Japanese culture.”
I enjoy how the author includes work of unknown and amateur photographers as well. He makes the argument that part of photography’s magic is that great images can be made by anyone. Serious study should be put into amateur work. Once you learn how to create images according to the style of the day then you’re most likely just following a set of rules. But amateur work exists in a world largely distinct from the professional style that supposedly makes great images, and because of that can sometimes be more effective at communicating the emotional aspects of photography. Amateur work tends to have an air of carefree wonder to it. Part of the mystery and joy of the medium is figuring this out.
I think my favorite part of the book is the last ten images. This is where Szarkowski really puts his heart and soul into what he writes. He finishes the book making the reader feel excited at the possibilities and future of the medium.
Szarkowski was a good photographer and a great writer. It’s clear he loved photography and put in the work to make sure that if this was the only book that a photographer looked at then it would be worth it. The only criticism I have is hardly his fault but it’s a very American and Eurocentric viewpoint on photography. This goes along with another of my gripes that it’s very hard to find good resources on photography in the southern hemisphere as well as eastern Europe and Asia. But the author did his best with what was at his disposal and managed to create a fascinating, inspiring, and above all beautiful account of photography.