A bestselling and indispensable introduction to the visual language of photography, from the legendary MoMA director and curator John Szarkowski

The Photographer's Eye by John Szarkowski is a twentieth-century classic--an indispensable introduction to the visual language of photography. Based on a landmark exhibition at The Museum of Modern Art in 1964, and originally published in 1966, the book has long been out of print. It is now available again to a new generation of photographers and lovers of photography in this duotone printing that closely follows the original. Szarkowski's compact text eloquently complements skillfully selected and sequenced groupings of 172 photographs drawn from the entire history and range of the medium. Celebrated works by such masters as Cartier-Bresson, Evans, Steichen, Strand, and Weston are juxtaposed with vernacular documents and even amateur snapshots to analyze the fundamental challenges and opportunities that all photographers have faced. Szarkowski, the legendary curator who worked at the Museum from 1962 to 1991, has published many influential books. But none more radically and succinctly demonstrates why--as U.S. News & World Report put it in 1990--whether Americans know it or not, his thinking about photography has become our thinking about photography.

Ducks in a stream, the bridge at St. Anthony Falls, streets of cities and towns, a fish in a net, the glittering lakes seen under low skies. The Face of Minnesota is a fresh, simple, unpretentious statement of a place and time by people who know what Minnesota is because they live there. --Minor White, Aperture, 1958

John Szarkowski is the single most important curator that photography has ever had. Looking at his photographs created over the last fifty years makes me want to weep. They are truly American pictures; one feels his desire to show not just what America was but what it still can be. --Ingrid Sischy, Vanity Fair, 2005

Originally commissioned to commemorate Minnesota's centennial in 1958 and out of print for nearly forty years, The Face of Minnesota is a lost masterpiece of photography and an eloquent tribute to the people and places of the North Star state. Republished in celebration of the state's sesquicentennial, this beautifully produced edition includes contemporary essays about John Szarkowski's impact on American photography and introduces his work to new generations of Minnesotans.

Featuring more than 175 arresting photographs as well as essays filled with wit and affection, The Face of Minnesota opens with this statement: This book is about Minnesota now. But as a mature man carries on his face and in his bearing the history of his past, so does the look of a place today show its past-what it has been and what it has believed in. Though Minnesota has changed dramatically during the past fifty years, The Face of Minnesota reveals the simple beauty of the imprint of the past and its deep resonance today.

John Szarkowski (1925-2007) was director of the photography program at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, where he transformed our understanding of the art of photography through influential exhibitions and books, including Looking at Photographs (1973). In 2005 his work was surveyed in a traveling exhibition, accompanied by the book John Szarkowski: Photographs.

Verlyn Klinkenborg joined the editorial board of the New York Times in 1997. He is the author of several works, including The Rural Life.

Richard Benson has worked as a photographer and printer since 1966. He teaches at Yale University and is the coauthor, with John Szarkowski, of A Maritime Album: 100 Photographs and Their Stories.

The Photographer and the American Landscape is a book written by John Szarkowski that explores the relationship between photography and the American landscape. The book is divided into three parts, each of which examines a different aspect of this relationship.In the first part, Szarkowski discusses the history of photography and its role in shaping our understanding of the American landscape. He explores how photographers have used the medium to capture the beauty and majesty of the natural world, as well as to document the impact of human activity on the environment.The second part of the book focuses on the work of individual photographers, including Ansel Adams, Edward Weston, and Robert Frank. Szarkowski analyzes their images and discusses how they have contributed to our understanding of the American landscape.In the final part of the book, Szarkowski examines the contemporary landscape of photography and discusses how digital technology has changed the way we view and interact with images. He argues that despite these changes, photography remains an important tool for understanding and appreciating the American landscape.Overall, The Photographer and the American Landscape is a thoughtful and insightful exploration of the relationship between photography and the natural world. It is a must-read for anyone interested in photography, environmentalism, or the American landscape.This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the old original and may contain some imperfections such as library marks and notations. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions, that are true to their original work.