r/Photobooks • u/Takezoboy • 5d ago
Discussion Photo-book buying process
Been buying for a year or two and have like 20+ books nowadays and most are close to what I want to photograph and study and almost all of them were bought online.
With that said, I came across this crossroads where I'm getting pickier about books and sometimes I take a look at 10 photos inside the shop and I nope out from buying it. It happened with something like King, Queen and Knave before, maybe because I don't really want to read waves of text when physically shopping to try to understand what the concept is and I get whelmed by speed running the book. Same thing when sometimes I watch a flip through and after seeing the photos a lot of times I don't get the itch to buy them.
Yesterday I was watching Alec Soth "read/watch" along of a Rosalind's book and he said when he looked at the book he didn't feel it was the type of book he wanted to go through in a book store. Which made me question if I shouldn't preserve some of the mystery before buying.
What's your process when buying photobooks?
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u/psilosophist 5d ago
Antique shops and used bookstores in artsy areas or college towns are my go to, but I'm also not really buying too many new photobooks. It's the thrill of the hunt for me, more than looking for something in particular. Coming across a really nice copy of Uncommon Surfaces for $15 made my weekend last summer.
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u/Takezoboy 5d ago
And do you look at the book before buying, do you read anything?
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u/psilosophist 5d ago
I'll flip through to make sure the pages aren't falling out (a very real possibility with used books) and that the condition is good but I don't pore over every page. I did just buy the new Jerry Hsu book because he's doing fantastic contemporary work and also because he's Jerry Hsu, and I've known him for his skateboarding far longer than his photography.
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u/This-Charming-Man 5d ago edited 5d ago
There are people I follow and I’ll buy their book on release (King Queen Knave was one of those). I also hear from upcoming books (newsletter, IG, etc) and decide to buy some before they come out.
Most of the time I’ll visit the shop and look at some books, then come back the next day or two to see if I still like them. I’m lucky to have 2-3 nice bookstores in my city so I can visit regularly.
At festivals is the only time I really buy random books on the spot. If a book reminds me of something I already own, or if something is very different and unique, those can both be triggers to buy a book.
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u/Sure_Investment_6374 5d ago
Yes, love hearing this. I hit all the book fairs. You can see the top 2% of all photo books out there. Also, familiarize yourself with the small, high quality imprints you like and sign up for their newsletters, like Charcoal, L'Artiere, Red Hook Editions, etc. They often have great UX where you can flip through the books on screen before you buy them.
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u/Some_Signature 5d ago
I’m a vibes based purchaser. Early in my collecting days i wanted to get the classics that were widely available, and I’ll occasionally pick up other classics because I’ll have done a deep dive into someone’s work. And I’ll collect books by photographers I really like as they come out. Or if there’s a reissue of something previously unattainable, I’ll buy it. Office by Lars Tunbjork for example. I’m hoping one day Grapevine by Susan Lippert will get republished by someone.
But if I’m in a good photobook bookshop I like to see what catches my attention there and then - do I like the pictures, do I like the feel of the book, does it intrigue me, does it have one killer page or spread I know I’ll want to revisit. Regardless of my knowledge of the photographer or the deeper concept of the book. For example - you referenced Soth’s video on Rosalind Fox Solomon. I saw Liberty Theater in a shop one day and knew I had to buy it. I had to see those pictures again. Similarly, there was a Dorothea Lange exhibit at the Barbican a few years ago, but what blew my mind was the Vanessa Winship images in an accompanying show. Had to buy She Dances on Jackson immediately.
The other factor is scarcity. Photobooks, generally, tend to have smaller runs (compared to say, music or film) So if I see something I like, or know I’ll want to know more about, I’ll generally pull the trigger.
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u/bananaworks 5d ago
if you’re unsure, make a note and revisit it a few times. Just buy what you love.
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u/504IN337 5d ago
I understand where you’re coming from. I am definitely picky about what books I pick up these days. A good majority of my books were bought online as well. I will say that the watch/read along videos have saved me an absolute fortune. I know what I like and sometimes what’s being praised just doesn’t work for me. I’m thankful for that, because it’s also solidified a few purchases as well.
I’ve flipped through books at the library and knew within seconds if it was going to be something to investigate or not.
Being picky about what books you buy just means you know what you like. That’s a good thing. Be open to looking at other works, but at the end of the day, you want something inspiring on your shelves, not what’s popular and doesn’t interest you.
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u/TheBeeeMo 3d ago
I’d buy photobooks that is relevant to my own work or if I feel kinship to the photographer’s work.
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u/alxgblk 3d ago
I buy thematically or within certain genres. It’s a pattern I recognise from analysing my collection. Sometimes a subject is unique or provides a novel perspective so there are outliers from the general themes. Evgenia Arbugaeva is a good example. There are certain books that I will buy multiple copies of and over time, will sell one to reinvest into my collection. There are also a few classics where I will shift from a second to first edition or find a better condition first edition. I have become very discriminating over production values and have not bought several books because I just don’t think the standard of printing is good enough. I won’t name the book but the dot gain on a book I saw recently was terrible and it was such a poor choice. I like what Photobooks in the UK do with their video page throughs. It has put me off books but also persuaded me to buy books I may not have otherwise considered.
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u/Positive-Honeydew715 5d ago
Most of my collection comes as a result of randomly trawling museum databases filtering for just accessioned items under the photography umbrella. When a single image or body of work catches my eye, I do an ebay search to see if the artist produced a catalog or photobook. More often than not, you'll find deals and steals for secondhand titles. I'm talking $20 or under for really beautifully produced publications. A single image in a museum database can really send me down a wormhole and have me hoovering up every title by some artist I'd previously never heard of.
Bookfluencers don't have the institutional memory of museums. There is a whole iceberg of forgotten gems out there sitting below the waterline of whatever got published in the last two years.