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Andreas Feininger: That's Photography Hardcover – August 2, 2004

by Andreas Feininger (Photographer), Thomas Buchsteiner (Contributor), Otto Letze (Contributor)
4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 23 ratings
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“The camera is superior to the eye, and the photograph can, and ideally should, portray the world more graphic than reality itself.” --Andreas Feininger
The basic principles underlying the photographic art of Andreas Feininger are clarity, simplicity and organization. The eldest son of painter Lyonel Feininger, he was born in Paris in 1906. Upon completion of training as a cabinet-maker at the Bauhaus in Weimar in the early 1920s, he went on to study architecture in the state schools of Weimar and Zerbst. It was while working as an architectural photographer in Stockholm that he developed the sweeping vistas and fine balance for which his pictures were famous. Emigrating to New York following the outbreak of World War II, Feininger was hired as a photo-editor by Life magazine. In his own work, he captured images of urban canyons, skyscrapers, bridges and elevated railways in concentrated, atmospheric photographs that are regarded as classical works today. He applied the same enthusiasm to nature studies: his detail images of insects, flowers, shells, wood and stones imbue these forms with a sculptural character. That's Photography presents the work of this classic photographer, who died in 1999.
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Previous page
  1. Print length
    320 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Hatje Cantz
  4. Publication date
    August 2, 2004
  5. Dimensions
    6.72 x 1.08 x 9.28 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    3775714294
  7. ISBN-13
    978-3775714297
  8. See all details
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Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Hatje Cantz; Bilingual edition (August 2, 2004)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 320 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 3775714294
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-3775714297
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.72 x 1.08 x 9.28 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 23 ratings

Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5 out of 5
23 global ratings
This is a very small book
3 Stars
This is a very small book
In comparison with other photo books this one is very small. I've attached a photo of it next to the new Gordon Parks book for comparison. It's unfortunate because the photo printing is of high quality but it would've been nicer if it was a larger format.
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Top reviews from the United States

phast eddy
5.0 out of 5 stars Fabulous Photos
Reviewed in the United States on August 17, 2016
Verified Purchase
Excellent survey of feininger' work-- no nonsense here just thoughtful intro commentary and lots of fabulous pictures. Recommended.
One person found this helpful
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Marc J. Yacht
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United States on July 15, 2015
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Important book by one of America's greatest photographers.
2 people found this helpful
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customer
3.0 out of 5 stars This is a very small book
Reviewed in the United States on January 21, 2022
Verified Purchase
In comparison with other photo books this one is very small. I've attached a photo of it next to the new Gordon Parks book for comparison. It's unfortunate because the photo printing is of high quality but it would've been nicer if it was a larger format.
Customer image
customer
3.0 out of 5 stars This is a very small book
Reviewed in the United States on January 21, 2022
In comparison with other photo books this one is very small. I've attached a photo of it next to the new Gordon Parks book for comparison. It's unfortunate because the photo printing is of high quality but it would've been nicer if it was a larger format.
Images in this review
Customer image
Customer image
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Andrew D.
5.0 out of 5 stars Buy it if you're into Feininger
Reviewed in the United States on November 3, 2014
Verified Purchase
Great book. Great Images.
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Robin
5.0 out of 5 stars The Master
Reviewed in the United States on February 6, 2009
As a record of the work of Andreas Feininger this has to be the book to own. With just over two hundred photos I doubt there will be anything better published. The 320 pages show his work from 1930 to the mid-Eighties with, I thought, a really first-class selection of photos.

European work from the Thirties includes: architecture; figure studies and portraits, then from the Forties onwards, when he was in America, work for the Office of War Information and Life magazine assignments of the Californian oil industry (those famous Signal Hill oil derricks) and probably the best from Feininger's sixty-year love affair with Manhattan. In between the industry, transport and city work there are forty-two photos of nature, either close-ups of plants or desert and mountain landscapes.

I love Feininger's work and I have to say that this book is rather special. As a collector of photo books (nearly exclusively dealing with America) I would normally expect to see monographs as landscape with the images centered on the page with generous margin but here is something different. The book is upright with the size and thickness one would expect for a non-fiction title, the margins on each page are quite narrow, the paper is a super matt art just right for the 200+ screen duotones . The binding and printing is impeccable as one would expect from art publishers Hatze Cantz (they did the print as well).

It is one of those rare books that is a joy to hold, turn the pages and be overwhelmed by stunning photos. A masterpiece!

***SEE SOME INSIDE PAGES by clicking 'customer images' under the cover.
Customer image
Robin
5.0 out of 5 stars The Master
Reviewed in the United States on February 6, 2009
As a record of the work of Andreas Feininger this has to be the book to own. With just over two hundred photos I doubt there will be anything better published. The 320 pages show his work from 1930 to the mid-Eighties with, I thought, a really first-class selection of photos.

European work from the Thirties includes: architecture; figure studies and portraits, then from the Forties onwards, when he was in America, work for the Office of War Information and Life magazine assignments of the Californian oil industry (those famous Signal Hill oil derricks) and probably the best from Feininger's sixty-year love affair with Manhattan. In between the industry, transport and city work there are forty-two photos of nature, either close-ups of plants or desert and mountain landscapes.

I love Feininger's work and I have to say that this book is rather special. As a collector of photo books (nearly exclusively dealing with America) I would normally expect to see monographs as landscape with the images centered on the page with generous margin but here is something different. The book is upright with the size and thickness one would expect for a non-fiction title, the margins on each page are quite narrow, the paper is a super matt art just right for the 200+ screen duotones . The binding and printing is impeccable as one would expect from art publishers Hatze Cantz (they did the print as well).

It is one of those rare books that is a joy to hold, turn the pages and be overwhelmed by stunning photos. A masterpiece!

***SEE SOME INSIDE PAGES by clicking 'customer images' under the cover.
Images in this review
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16 people found this helpful
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anonymoose
3.0 out of 5 stars Meh...
Reviewed in the United States on November 17, 2014
Verified Purchase
Nice book, well printed, but I find Feininger to be a somewhat cold and clinical photographer without the eye for composition of the likes of Kertesz, Bresson, Avedon, Brassai, etc.

I'll probably give this one away to someone who appreciates it more than I do.
One person found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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Michaelis77
5.0 out of 5 stars Tolles Bilderbuch
Reviewed in Germany on December 29, 2015
Verified Purchase
Als leidenschaftlicher Fotoamateur schaue ich selten in Fotobücher, da die meisten recht textlastig sind und/oder mich nicht berühren.
Hier wurde ich nicht enttäuscht. Nach einer sehr spannenden Einleitung mit einer kurzen (Auto-)Biographie Feinigers gibt es den Rest des Buches Bilder, Bilder und nochmals Bilder aus dem Lebenswerk des Fotografen.
Diese finde ich sehr inspirierend und zeigen auch gut die Entwicklung des Fotografen über die Jahre.
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Athanase
5.0 out of 5 stars Formidable livre, sur Feininger et sur les Etats-Unis
Reviewed in France on September 1, 2015
Verified Purchase
D'accord avec Robin Benson.
Très bonne qualité des reproductions. Un maître de la photographie servi par un livre aussi riche qu'intéressant. La partie consacrée aux Etats-Unis des années 40-50 forme un reportage assez extraordinaire. À mettre en bonne place dans sa bibliothèque.
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Fernando
3.0 out of 5 stars Formato pequeño (menos que un A4)
Reviewed in Spain on January 27, 2014
Verified Purchase
Esperaba un formato mayor; estaría bien que se informase del tamaño de los libros en los detalles del producto.
Por lo demás, las fotografías excelentes y el papel bastante bueno.
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Londoner
5.0 out of 5 stars A very wide cross-section of his work, all in black and white
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 12, 2012
Verified Purchase
This is another book of German origin that are becoming increasingly common. At one time, and not very many years ago, 80-90% of the books on photography on sale in the UK were American and less than 10% British. The remainder would be other European. That is fast changing and books of German origin have long overtaken the British contingent and are approaching those from the US in number and variety. This is typical of many German publishers in that they realise that the German-speaking market is fairly small and, if they add English text as well, it dramatically broadens their market. This is no different and there is an excellent translation in English of its Introduction and Preface, the latter written by Feininger; otherwise there is no text other than a title for each image.

One of the first ever photo manuals I bought was one of Feininger's, and that was many years ago. I have therefore had a long but passing familiarity with many of his images but the vast majority of those in this book are new to me. The variety of subjects involved is much wider than I had previously known and includes landscapes and nature studies that could possibly have been taken by Edward Weston. There is the street photography for which he is perhaps best known, a substantial number with an architectural theme, several that may loosely be described as 'industrial' and a number of portraits. There is also a section on the US transport system, amongst which are some outstanding images. There are some iconic images included, including that of his contemporary Dennis Stock on Page 63 which has been reproduced many times in books and magazines and another, possibly also of Stock and which is similar, on the following page.

Feininger is amongst the best photographers from the 20th Century working primarily in monochrome. He can be directly compared with Cartier-Bresson, both for style and breadth of subjects, although they worked mostly in different cities and it would be difficult to choose between the two, were it necessary. In the intro, it is stated that Feininger analysed a scene for several factors in order to ascertain whether it would be best rendered in colour or monochrome. It may therefore be inferred that he was prepared for both, but it is known that he only rarely used colour because he did not consider the results sufficiently accurate and far preferred monochrome. There is a conflict, and both statements are mutually exclusive.

Although this is not the least expensive book amongst those in which I have recently invested, it is very definitely worthy of purchase and will be one that I expect to return to many times. Very highly recommended.
4 people found this helpful
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Mr. Gareth Williams
5.0 out of 5 stars Early master of the tele.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 6, 2015
Verified Purchase
A fine book although the format is small but it is thick. Very well printed and contains much of his best known work. A large proportion are of New York and shadow work by Berenice Abbott.
One person found this helpful
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