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Icons of Photography: The 20th Century (Prestel's Icons) | 
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| Creator: Peter Stepan
Publisher: Prestel Publishing
Category: Book
List Price: $35.00
Buy Used: $9.11
You Save: $25.89 (74%)
New (5) Used (18) Collectible (1) from $9.11
Avg. Customer Rating:  8 reviews
Sales Rank: 1563406
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 200
Shipping Weight (lbs): 3.5
Dimensions (in): 12 x 9.7 x 0.9
ISBN: 3791320017
Dewey Decimal Number: 770.904
EAN: 9783791320014
ASIN: 3791320017
Publication Date: April 1999
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Binding in good condition No highlighting or writing on pages Normal edge and corner wear Wear is mostly to the dust jacket. Hard cover is in good condition. This item is being offered by Goodwill, a non-profit organization. All funds raised are used to support Goodwill which changes lives by providing opportunities for people to build independence. This item is only available for purchase online and is not available in any Goodwill store.
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Product Description
More than ninety of the century's best photographers are presented in this richly illustrated volume with some 160 icons of the genre. This selection focuses not only on universally famous and artistically stunning images by renowned photographers, but also on the discovery of lesser known pictures of exquisite quality. The range of subject material, from the portrait to political or social reportage, from genre images to abstract or subjective photography, is matched only by the stylistic variety of the selected works. These reflect the multiplicity of this century's artistic movements and lend them new expression through their clarity and focus. More than any other artistic medium, photography has changed the way we view our world at the close of the twentieth century, a fact that is clearly reflected in this volume.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 3 more reviews...
 20th Century "Photographers" Who Have an Iconic Status September 11, 2007
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I think the book's title actually meant to refer to 20th century "photographers" that are viewed as icons by their peers, and not famous photographs of the 20th century.
As a follow up to some previous comments, I live in the US and I have previously heard of most of the German photographers mentioned in this book. The ones I hadn't previously heard of (a little more than half a dozen) are mostly early 20th century photographers.
These are the German & Austrian photographers mentioned in this volume: Ellen Auerbach (born 1906), Herbert Bayer (born 1900), Bernd & Hilla Becher, Ilse Bing, Karl Blossfeldt, Chargesheimer, Gisele Freund, Robert Hausser (born 1924), Heinz Hajek-Halke (born 1898), Horst P. Horst, Lotte Jacobi, Stefan Moses (born 1928), Helmut Newton, Walter Peterhaus (born 1897), Albert-Renger Patzsch, Thomas Ruff, Erich Salomon, Otto Steinert (born 1915), Umbo (born 1902), Wols (born 1913), Heinrich Zille (born 1858).
I do have to note though the absence of Japanese photographers like Hosoe & Moriyama, and also of Robert Frank (Robert Frank, c'mon!), Harry Callahan, Eliott Erwitt, Marc Riboud, Andreas Gursky & perhaps Philip Lorca di Corcia. Also, as another follow up to a previous comment, Martin Parr does NOT appear in this book, and perhaps rightly so.
I find the book to be a succinct survey of Westerners that have shaped 20th Century photography. Definitely worth the money.
If you're looking for a more comprehensive survey of important photographers and their full biographies see the 1200+ pages 3rd edition of "Contemporary Photographers", ISBN 1558621903 (or wait for the 4th edition, ISBN 1558623183, due for publication in 2009).
 Sadly Wanting March 9, 2007
0 out of 3 found this review helpful
Anyone who knows photography will recognize immediately that many of the true Icons of the 20th Century are sadly missing. The title is presumptuous, innaccurate and misleading. A publisher and writer would be wise to do the proper research before attempting such a project.
 Half iconic; poorly edited and proofed November 13, 2006
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I have to echo what others have said -- many of the photos in this book do not bear the title "iconic". Moreover, in the case of several of the truly outstanding photographers, less-than-the-best has been chosen as "iconic".
More specifically, the book (like so many books published in continental Europe, in my opinion) is badly edited and proofed. In particular, some photos are badly reproduced. At least one is reversed.
Not Especially Iconographic January 29, 2006
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
This volume sells itself as an invaluable collection of the century's most powerful and moving images featuring some 160 masterpieces by more than 90 photographers from 1900 to 2000. Honestly, maybe one half of the photos collected in this book truly deserve to be called icons. Any reasonably well educated person should be able to immediately place an iconic photo. An example being Robert Capa's "Death of a Loyalist Solider". This is the single most famous image of the Spanish Civil War and most reasonably well educated people will know it. Martin Parr's "Sediscombe, from "Think of England", does not quite hit the mark.
This book was produced by the German Publishing Company, Prestel. In turn, many of the 90 photographers exhibited in this book are German. Quite frankly, I have never heard of many of these photographers. If I were German, maybe I would know their works. The other weakness of this book are a number of images from contemporary photogaphers. Although the images are interesting, not enough time has passed to raise them to the level of icons.
This is an interesting book but by no means are all the 160 photos presented masterpieces nor the 90 photographers all masters of the art of photography. A good book to purchase in the discount bin.
Doesn't live up to the title February 20, 2004
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Not a bad book at all. In fact, it contains some truly iconic photographs. It also contains a lot of mundane photographs, and as a result doesn't really live up to the title of the book. I agree with the oldest review (May 1999) below -- too many rather bland photos (and yes, almost all are black-and-white).
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