Eyes Wide Open! 100 Years of Leica Photography Hardcover – June 23, 2015

First the pros: It's a beautiful and informative book that I would recommend to anyone interested in 35mm photography. It is full of very informative articles relating to the history of the Leica instrument, and its uses in photojournalism; industrial photography; fashion photography; art photography...etc.etc. highlighting many of the photographers who used the Leica as their axe (tool). The book is loaded with wonderful photos covering the various genres.The cons (and these are minor complaints given the scope of this wonderful book ) The book is obviously Germany biased in it's coverage of photographers. Though it does highlight photographers from all over the world, some of my favorites are missing: Where are photos of Mary Ellen Mark, Jerome Liebling...etc, etc?Though some thousand photos are shown, many are in contact sheet form, or tear sheets with contact size positives pasted on; or pictures of open photo books showing a photo spread. In other words, thumbnail size. I have the urge to click the thumbnail to see a full size photo. Many photos were not printed from the original elements, but photographed from books. I'm sure this was necessary, as many of the original elements are probably gone with the wind. Sepia tone was over used in the book, IMO. There are beautiful full size photo spreads to be sure, but the thumbnails beg a fuller look.One section, showing photos of the assembly of a Leica, is printed on 3/4 size paper, like a booklet sewn into the book. Why not full size pages? (And yes, the book is sewn! Thankfully!)The contrast on some of the photos shown is questionable. In Alexander Rodchenko's "Girl With Leica" (a very famous photo) the contrast is so high you can't really see the Leica. I've seen a better copy of that one. The color photos don't come through as well as they could have on a different paper. But generally I think the reproductions are good. (Better than "good" would have required a more expensive paper, resulting in a more expensive book... but the reproductions are good.)Nuff said. This is an excellent book which no doubt took eons to compile. The articles are excellent. The photography is great and provides a sweeping look at the 20th century. I think you won't be disappointed (at least in any major way). I was impressed.Being a Leica photographer myself (and a Nikon photographer, I must say) this book is a must for my shelf. Make room for it.

I bought it as a gift for my brother who shoots with Leicas and he says the book is very good.

As a Leica fan and a fan of photography this made for a wonderful Christmas present from my wife! A HUGE book that will take me some time to get through. It covers not only the history of Leica photography but, in a sense, the history of modern photography in general. I don't quite agree with the criticism of the pictures of actual books or magazines being used. A number of the journals covered have long been out of print and I'm guessing the original images are not available for reprint hence the photos of actual books and magazines were used to at least provide a visual of that part of Leica history.

Waited forever for this to arrive overseas, but it was worth it. Legendary range finder lore and some of the most famous 20th century photos ever made in high quality reproduction.

I ordered this as a gift for my father, a Leica photographer and enthusiast for over 50 years. He loved it! I had a chance to look at it for a bit, and was very interested in the historical and geographical significance of the photos, in addition to the artistry of them. This is a wonderful book and worth the money!

hi

If you are into Photography this book is a must have. The production and choice of images is wonderful. Photographs of the books and pages are a great way to show the Photographers work, and with an index, biographies and lots of images I can say this is a treasure.

The images in this book are simply stunning. Some are very harsh (war photos, nudity, even an autopsy, etc.) so please be careful when sharing the book with small children.