Garry Winogrand (Metropolitan Museum, New York: Exhibition Catalogues) Hardcover – April 2, 2013

The last major retrospective of Gary Winogrand's work was published in 1988, with John Szarkowski, the aging but still authoritative god of photography as the editor and essayist--and the most notable disclosure in that work was that Winogrand died with a freezer full of exposed film--2,500 rolls--plus thousands more rolls of work never really edited or printed--and that Winogrand, at the end, didn't even care enough to hold the camera steady. The view given by Szarkowski seemed to be that no one in their right mind would ever stagger through Winogrand's every last frame, just to see what was there, and that much of what the man saw would never be seen again.Twenty five years later, a team of dedicated scholars have proven Szarkowski wrong (much to his posthumous delight, I'm sure)--this very thick and heavy volume is teaming with Winogrands never seen in print before, presented in parings and sequences that delight the eye. I'm old enough to remember (as a child) much of the world that Winogrand photographed (almost old enough for a reprise of the Tom Lehr joke about Mozart--when he was my age, he'd been dead for two years), and am amazed at how he captured not just the surface, but he essence of the eras he lived through.While some of the other reviewers have complained about how the new images are being printed from digital scans of the negatives, I have no problem with this way of presenting the images, at least in book form--first, all the images in the book are reproduced in duo-tone, and are based on electronic scans--and secondly, I suspect that the complaints are being registered by those who never experienced the "donkey-work" involved in processing silver materials--and worth noting is that Winogrand always processed his own film, but he didn't print even work prints after 1971--I'm grateful for the new digital technology, especially the ability to scan an entire "contact sheet" of a roll of film, and very quickly invert and enlarge the images--I don't think we would have this new look at Wiongrand's work without this change. Secondly, I don't think Winogrand every really gave much of a damn about printing--I own one of his "finished prints", which I'm certain was produced by a custom printer and signed later in a batch--but I'm glad that Winogrand spent his time making new images, and not in the darkroom, cranking out print after print of the same images, trying to meet what his gallery considered what the market would bear... I haven't seen the show hanging on the wall--maybe the new digital images are weaker in that form--but once again, I don't have a problem with work being presented in any form, just so we can see it...I feel, at the end of scanning this book for the first time, like I've just had one of the best meals ever--one photograph more would be too much. I can't imagine a better book of his work. My advice--buy this book--now.

I desired to add a Garry Winogrand photography book to my library for many years before this one and only retrospective of his life's work was published. Words alone cannot convey the excitement that joyously filled my entire person upon learning of of this books release. I pre-ordered it and anxiously awaited for months for it to arrive at my front doorstep. Upon it's arrival, I eagerly unboxed it with the anticipation of a kid searching through her or his bag of treats on Halloween night. You may as well call me Charlie Brown because after viewing this photography book, I felt like I was given a bag of, "ROCK'S".Although I found the images immaculately captured as in the case of all of Winogrand's work, I was at a complete loss as to why the publishers chose to print them with a slight sepia tint instead of pure black-and-white. Also, many of the highlights were completely blown out in the images, which I found to be a poor representation of Winogrand's photographic genius.To make matters worse, the books presentation is poorly designed. It is in portrait format which was a drastic mistake in that Winogrand mainly captured his images in landscape format. Most of the pages contain an out of place horizontal image that covers the top half of the page, leaving nothing on the bottom half of the page but a blank white space that is of no significance. This makes it hard for the eye to accurately follow the images due to their high placement on the top of the page.Also, I feel as though the individuals who worked on the book violated Winogrand's privacy by posthumously publishing this retrospective of his work without prior permission or input before he died. Had he wanted these images to be seen, he would have developed the film and made the corresponding enlargements himself in the wet-darkroom.Sadly, it is for these reasons that I cannot recommend you purchase, "Garry Winogrand", by Leo Rubenfien. If you do decide to purchase it, I can only hope that your experience with it is more pleasurable than mine.Respectfully,Jamusu.

This is an absolutely amazing book, and a must buy for students of photography, particularly for fans of the school of street photography personified by Henri Cartier-Bresson, Robert Frank, and Lee Friedlander. Not only is the book a definitive catalog of Winogrand's oeuvre, but it's a matchless chronicle of mid-twentieth-century America as seen through the eyes of a true creative genius.So why am I giving it only three stars? It doesn't even deserve four stars, for one simple reason: poor presentation. I'm not referring to the printing quality, which is pristine. And there's copious written material for those who want to delve further into the work.Here's the problem: Winogrand worked in landscape format, for the most part, but this book is in portrait. Most of the pages contain a single horizontal image on the top half of the page, and nothing on the bottom half. I kid you not! Almost half of the page space in this book is solid white, which equates to wasted space in my book. And if you're holding it in your lap, it's the part that's nearest your eye.Publishers: Why, oh why did you not print the book in landscape format? I would've given that five stars, no problem.

Broad look at the work of Gary Winogrand with some never before seen pictures.Not one single picture spans the gutter - horay!If you have a remote interest in street photography then you need this book.Cant wait for the exhibition to arrive in Paris - Boo that it isn't coming to UK.

Lovely reproduction of the photographs, and very intelligent essays by all the contributors. A fine addition to a photographer's library!

Some very nice vintage "street photography". Glad I bought this volume, it is certainly recommendable.

Comprehensive is how I would describe this book with detailed ,interesting essays.Perhaps only for those who already like Winogrands work.

perfect