Fans pick 100 books like Landscape

By Paul Caponigro,

Here are 100 books that Landscape fans have personally recommended if you like Landscape. Shepherd is a community of 12,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

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Book cover of The Last Roll

Nubar Alexanian Author Of Stones In the Road: Photographs of Peru

From my list on the poetry in documentary photographs.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve been a documentary photographer for the past 50 years and my work has been featured in major magazines in the United States and Europe including The New York Times Magazine, Life, Fortune, Geo, Time & Newsweek, and others. I have six books in print, including JAZZ with Wynton Marsalis & Nonfiction Photographs with filmmaker Errol Morris. I love teaching photography and co-founded the Essex Photographic Workshop in 1975. My work is in many collections, including The Peabody Essex Museum, The Worcester Art Museum, Polaroid Collection, Agfa Corporation, Participant Productions, Bose Corporation, Bibliotheque Nacionale, France. Solo exhibitions of my work include the Walker Art Center, the Corcoran Gallery of Art, and the Burden Gallery.

Nubar's book list on the poetry in documentary photographs

Nubar Alexanian Why did Nubar love this book?

I own five signed copies of this book which I loan out to young photographers. The lesson in this book of documentary photographs is the irrelevance of information and the importance of emotion. In this way, Jeff’s work redefines photography by expanding the very notion of what a documentary photograph is….and can be. In 2004 Jeff was diagnosed with lymphoma. Soon afterwards Kodak discontinued the production of Kodachrome, the film his entire visual vocabulary was based on and now was gone forever. What do you do when confronted with physical and creative mortality? The Last Roll, by Jeff Jacobson, is an amazing response to this question. 

By Jeff Jacobson,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Last Roll as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

"A few days before Christmas, 2004, I was diagnosed with lymphoma," writes Jeff Jacobson in his preface to The Last Roll. The NY Times LENS Blog described Jacobson as "pushing the visual boundaries of photojournalism" in this work providing a first-person depiction of a cancer patient's changing perspectives on life, death, art, and the world at-large.

A former Magnum photographer known for his quirky style, Jeff Jacobson was one of the first art photographers to use color film exclusively. For his 1991 book My Fellow Americans he traveled the country, capturing the look and mood of a decade. Over time,…


Book cover of Growing Up Female: A Personal Photojournal

Nubar Alexanian Author Of Stones In the Road: Photographs of Peru

From my list on the poetry in documentary photographs.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve been a documentary photographer for the past 50 years and my work has been featured in major magazines in the United States and Europe including The New York Times Magazine, Life, Fortune, Geo, Time & Newsweek, and others. I have six books in print, including JAZZ with Wynton Marsalis & Nonfiction Photographs with filmmaker Errol Morris. I love teaching photography and co-founded the Essex Photographic Workshop in 1975. My work is in many collections, including The Peabody Essex Museum, The Worcester Art Museum, Polaroid Collection, Agfa Corporation, Participant Productions, Bose Corporation, Bibliotheque Nacionale, France. Solo exhibitions of my work include the Walker Art Center, the Corcoran Gallery of Art, and the Burden Gallery.

Nubar's book list on the poetry in documentary photographs

Nubar Alexanian Why did Nubar love this book?

When my wife and I met in 1975, one of the things we had in common was that we both owned a copy of Growing Up Female. And the bindings on both copies were pretty worn out. This is a deeply personal journal of compelling photographs and eloquent text about women—from a feminist’s point of view.  What I love about this book is how deeply moving it is and how well it demonstrates a narrative approach to taking, editing, and sequencing first-person photographs. Not to mention that this book sold 25,000 copies (unheard of for books of photography) and had a significant impact on the view of a woman’s place in our culture.  

By Abigail Heyman,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Growing Up Female as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Growing up female;: A personal photojournal Hardcover by Abigail Heyman (Author)


Book cover of Exiles

Nubar Alexanian Author Of Stones In the Road: Photographs of Peru

From my list on the poetry in documentary photographs.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve been a documentary photographer for the past 50 years and my work has been featured in major magazines in the United States and Europe including The New York Times Magazine, Life, Fortune, Geo, Time & Newsweek, and others. I have six books in print, including JAZZ with Wynton Marsalis & Nonfiction Photographs with filmmaker Errol Morris. I love teaching photography and co-founded the Essex Photographic Workshop in 1975. My work is in many collections, including The Peabody Essex Museum, The Worcester Art Museum, Polaroid Collection, Agfa Corporation, Participant Productions, Bose Corporation, Bibliotheque Nacionale, France. Solo exhibitions of my work include the Walker Art Center, the Corcoran Gallery of Art, and the Burden Gallery.

Nubar's book list on the poetry in documentary photographs

Nubar Alexanian Why did Nubar love this book?

There’s an image of a large white horse standing above a man who’s kneeling in front of him, gesturing toward the horse’s face with one hand. He is having a conversation with this horse, trying to convince him of something. It’s one of the most beautiful photographs ever! On another page is a fully feathered chicken being dried out, hanging upside down from a clothesline in what appears to be a field of wheat.  It’s astonishing how beautiful this image is. Josef Koudelka is one of the great masters of photography who has taught us all how to see the mystery and awe in places we walk by every day. Through his work, Koudelka has shown me the breadth and depth that photography embraces.

By Josef Koudelka,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Exiles as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

About Exiles, Cornell Capa once wrote, Koudelka's unsentimental, stark, brooding, intensely human imagery reflect his own spirit, the very essence of an exile who is at home wherever his wandering body finds haven in the night. In this newly revised and expanded edition of the 1988 classic, which includes ten new images, Koudelka's work once more forms a powerful document of the spiritual and physical state of exile. The sense of private mystery that fills these photographs mostly taken during Koudelkas many years of wandering through Europe since leaving his native Czechoslovakia in 1968 speaks of passion and reserve, of…


Book cover of Luminance

Nubar Alexanian Author Of Stones In the Road: Photographs of Peru

From my list on the poetry in documentary photographs.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve been a documentary photographer for the past 50 years and my work has been featured in major magazines in the United States and Europe including The New York Times Magazine, Life, Fortune, Geo, Time & Newsweek, and others. I have six books in print, including JAZZ with Wynton Marsalis & Nonfiction Photographs with filmmaker Errol Morris. I love teaching photography and co-founded the Essex Photographic Workshop in 1975. My work is in many collections, including The Peabody Essex Museum, The Worcester Art Museum, Polaroid Collection, Agfa Corporation, Participant Productions, Bose Corporation, Bibliotheque Nacionale, France. Solo exhibitions of my work include the Walker Art Center, the Corcoran Gallery of Art, and the Burden Gallery.

Nubar's book list on the poetry in documentary photographs

Nubar Alexanian Why did Nubar love this book?

This book cemented my commitment to being a photographer. The images are stunning jewels frozen in silver from ancient places in countries like India, Ireland, Egypt, & Tibet. Printed beautifully in warm black and white tones along with inspiring quotes, every image speaks to me: slow down, pay attention to what you see and feel. And focus on the light and the shadow.

By Linda Connor,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Luminance as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The third in the "LUX" series of fine art photography monographs by the Center for Photographic Arts.


Book cover of Stephen Wilkes. Day to Night

Sara Frances Author Of Unplugged Voices: 125 Tales of Art and Life from Northern New Mexico, the Four Corners and the West

From my list on beautiful imagery and intriguing text.

Why am I passionate about this?

After flirting with careers as an archaeologist, pilot, concert pianist, and diplomat, I settled on photographer after just a few month’s residence in Heidelberg, Germany, while studying for my Masters in Comparative Literature. The camera provided close personal interaction with people, while hearing their stories from a wide variety of cultural perspectives and social environments. Introduced by parents, I formed an obsession with opera, Native American drum music, vinyl recordings, and historic places, particularly Georgia O’Keeffe country, “south of the border” from our Colorado base. My family of musicians and artists stopped, listened, and loved the light and land of the Four Corners. I self-define as a photojournalist-poet, a griot.

Sara's book list on beautiful imagery and intriguing text

Sara Frances Why did Sara love this book?

It’s a huge book! Huge in size, huge in the image reproductions, huge in the photographic artist’s effort to construct composite images of dramatic international scenes from many iconic places, such as Times Square, Paris, Rome, National Parks of the World, that transform from day to night.

Yes, all in the same image! One side is night that slowly across the image melds into day. Technological marvel, but no kitsch here. Hundreds of hours, thousands of images layered together to create an entirely new art form. 

By Stephen Wilkes (photographer), Lyle Rexer,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Stephen Wilkes. Day to Night as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

If you were to stand in one spot at an iconic location for 30 hours and simply observe, never closing your eyes, you still wouldn't be able to take in all the detail and emotion found in a Stephen Wilkes panoramic photograph. Not only does Wilkes shoot over 1,500 exposures from a fixed angle, he also distills this visual information afterward in his studio, painstakingly composing selected frames into a single image.

Day to Night presents 60 epic panoramas created between 2009 and 2018, shot everywhere from Africa's Serengeti to the Champs-Elysees in Paris, from the Grand Canyon to Coney…


Book cover of The Human Planet: Earth at the Dawn of the Anthropocene

Jeffrey Milstein Author Of London from the Air

From my list on aerial photography books.

Why am I passionate about this?

When I was young, my passions were flying and art. I became a pilot at age 17. Later, I became an architect, and much later, in 2000, I decided to become a fine art photographer. After ten years of shooting from the ground, I decided to take to the air again and began shooting aerial photographs, primarily of cities. I now have three aerial books published: LA NY, Thames & Hudson, Paris From the Air, Rizzoli, and London From the Air, Rizzoli. My aerial photographs are exhibited and collected throughout the world.

Jeffrey's book list on aerial photography books

Jeffrey Milstein Why did Jeffrey love this book?

George Steinmetz is a pioneer in a risky type of aerial photography.

He uses a motorized paraglider that uses a small gas engine driving a propellor strapped to his back, while a parachute-like fabric wing provides the lift. I am in awe of how he has traveled the world with this setup, getting photographs from low altitudes that are truly amazing. He has traveled to every continent, going to seemingly impossible places. The book features incredible photos of the natural landscape as well as the man-made landscape. Some of my favorites are the pyramids of Egypt, the indigenous architecture and animal migrations in Africa, the deserts of Saudi Arabia, the camel salt caravans, and the amazing Brazil dune-scape.

I cannot overstate the value of this book if you want to see the world in a way you have never seen. I am amazed by the photos. These were taken before…

By George Steinmetz, Andrew Revkin,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Human Planet as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A dynamic aerial exploration of our changing planet, published on the 50th anniversary of Earth Day

The Human Planet is a sweeping visual chronicle of the Earth today from a photographer who has circled the globe to report on such urgent issues as climate change, sustainable agriculture, and the ever-expanding human footprint. George Steinmetz is at home on every continent, documenting both untrammeled nature and the human project that relentlessly redesigns the planet in its quest to build shelter, grow food, generate energy, and create beauty through art and architecture. In his images, accompanied by authoritative text by renowned science…


Book cover of Mountain Light: In Search of the Dynamic Landscape

Glenn Randall Author Of The Art, Science, and Craft of Great Landscape Photography

From my list on landscape photography why and how.

Why am I passionate about this?

The wilderness has fascinated me since childhood. I spent much of my teens and twenties rock-climbing, ice-climbing, and mountaineering in ranges from Alaska to Argentina. By my early 30s, however, my interest in outdoor sports was waning, and my interest in photographing wild places was soaring. I became a full-time wilderness landscape photographer in 1993. For fifteen years, I shot 4x5 film. Then, in 2008, I retired my film cameras for good and began shooting digitally. Today, after more than 30 years of full-time landscape photography, I am still enthralled with the arduous, ecstatic experience of trying to capture the elusive beauty of the wilderness.

Glenn's book list on landscape photography why and how

Glenn Randall Why did Glenn love this book?

Galen Rowell was, to use Galen’s own term, a phantom mentor to me as a 29-year-old freelance writer and photographer specializing in the outdoors.

The photographs, anecdotes, and insights into the craft of landscape and outdoor-adventure photography found in this book inspired me to look with more observant eyes at the beauty of the natural world and to hone the skills required to capture the magical moments I was experiencing in the wilderness.

By Galen Rowell,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Mountain Light as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Eighty color photographs arranged to reflect the infinitely varying qualities of light in mountain landscapes are accompanied by an informative text describing Rowell's philosophy of photography, the development of his personal style, and the methods guiding his work


Book cover of Vision and Art: The Biology of Seeing

Glenn Randall Author Of The Art, Science, and Craft of Great Landscape Photography

From my list on landscape photography why and how.

Why am I passionate about this?

The wilderness has fascinated me since childhood. I spent much of my teens and twenties rock-climbing, ice-climbing, and mountaineering in ranges from Alaska to Argentina. By my early 30s, however, my interest in outdoor sports was waning, and my interest in photographing wild places was soaring. I became a full-time wilderness landscape photographer in 1993. For fifteen years, I shot 4x5 film. Then, in 2008, I retired my film cameras for good and began shooting digitally. Today, after more than 30 years of full-time landscape photography, I am still enthralled with the arduous, ecstatic experience of trying to capture the elusive beauty of the wilderness.

Glenn's book list on landscape photography why and how

Glenn Randall Why did Glenn love this book?

This book is the best book I’ve found on our complex visual system and how we use it to view art. I came across it while trying to understand why some of my landscape images succeeded and others failed. Although no book can fully explain people’s preferences, I still found its insights into how we view art to be unexpected and fascinating.

By Margaret S. Livingstone,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Vision and Art as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In this new expanded edition Livingstone thoroughly updates this groundbreaking study with the latest findings gathered from her research, with 32 additional pages of new text and images, including 3 brand new chapters. She begins by offering a comprehensive account of the biology of vision, drawing on the history of science and her own cutting edge discoveries. She then turns to art and delves into the science underlying various phenomena in painting, using many examples from the mysterious allure of the Mona Lisa to the amazing atmospheric effects of the impressionists to illustrate her points. Along the way, she shows…


Book cover of Collier's Guide to Night Photography in the Great Outdoors

Glenn Randall Author Of The Art, Science, and Craft of Great Landscape Photography

From my list on landscape photography why and how.

Why am I passionate about this?

The wilderness has fascinated me since childhood. I spent much of my teens and twenties rock-climbing, ice-climbing, and mountaineering in ranges from Alaska to Argentina. By my early 30s, however, my interest in outdoor sports was waning, and my interest in photographing wild places was soaring. I became a full-time wilderness landscape photographer in 1993. For fifteen years, I shot 4x5 film. Then, in 2008, I retired my film cameras for good and began shooting digitally. Today, after more than 30 years of full-time landscape photography, I am still enthralled with the arduous, ecstatic experience of trying to capture the elusive beauty of the wilderness.

Glenn's book list on landscape photography why and how

Glenn Randall Why did Glenn love this book?

Over the last 10 years or so, the rapid advances in digital photography have created a whole new genre of photography: landscape photography at night. I became fascinated with the genre when I saw a slide show given by night photographer and author Grant Collier.

In an effort to master the subject, I picked up Grant Collier’s book. Grant is deeply knowledgeable on the topic and conveys his knowledge in readily understandable ways. My own photography benefited greatly as a result.

By Grant Collier,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Collier's Guide to Night Photography in the Great Outdoors as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The night sky may be the most awe-inspiring spectacle that any of us will ever see. It can, however, be difficult to capture in a photograph, as it requires specialized techniques that are rarely used when shooting images during the day.

Grant Collier sheds light on how to capture these otherworldly images by sharing secrets he has learned over the past 21 years. He explains how to take photos of the Milky Way, northern lights, meteors, eclipses, lightning, and much more.

Grant begins by reviewing equipment and supplies that are helpful when photographing at night. He then discusses many software…


Book cover of Rainbows, Halos, and Glories

Glenn Randall Author Of The Art, Science, and Craft of Great Landscape Photography

From my list on landscape photography why and how.

Why am I passionate about this?

The wilderness has fascinated me since childhood. I spent much of my teens and twenties rock-climbing, ice-climbing, and mountaineering in ranges from Alaska to Argentina. By my early 30s, however, my interest in outdoor sports was waning, and my interest in photographing wild places was soaring. I became a full-time wilderness landscape photographer in 1993. For fifteen years, I shot 4x5 film. Then, in 2008, I retired my film cameras for good and began shooting digitally. Today, after more than 30 years of full-time landscape photography, I am still enthralled with the arduous, ecstatic experience of trying to capture the elusive beauty of the wilderness.

Glenn's book list on landscape photography why and how

Glenn Randall Why did Glenn love this book?

Understanding natural light in all its varieties is crucial for a landscape photographer. This book is still one of the best books I’ve read on the science of atmospheric optics, the study of how sunlight interacts with our atmosphere.

After reading it, I understood for the first time why the sky on a clear day is blue, why sunrise and sunset light is sometimes red, how rainbows form, and where in the sky to find them. We often fail to see phenomena we don’t understand because we don’t know where to look. Rainbows, Halos, and Glories helped me understand natural light, which helped me appreciate the ever-changing beauty of the sky.

By Robert Greenler,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Rainbows, Halos, and Glories as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Over two hundred illustrations, many in full color, capture for both the layman and scientist the beautiful optical effects that we see in the sky. The author describes and explains these effects in non-technical language. In addition to discussing such well-known phenomena as rainbows and halos, he treats the rarer ones, including sun pillars, sun dogs, glories, and mirages. Computer simulations and simplified mathematical models are used to make the physical origins of these events intelligible. The book sensitizes readers to a wide range of optical phenomena in the sky, explains how to look for them, and imparts an increased…


Book cover of The Last Roll
Book cover of Growing Up Female: A Personal Photojournal
Book cover of Exiles

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