Time Life Books - Library of Photography

[jcdeboever]

I seen these on Craigslist and was thinking of buying them. They look informative but not sure if they are any good. Thoughts on content and price?


Set 19 Library of Photography by Time Life Books 70s Classic Technique - $80
Set 19 Library of Photography by Time Life Books 70s Classic Technique

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[Dave442]

If you can dedicate some time to going through at least a few of them then it is probably worthwhile.

 

[vintagesnaps]

I don't know if they'd be worth $80 - are old encyclopedias and those type books worth much money?

They could be interesting (to me anyway) since obviously being written in the '70s they're dated, but I've bought old photography and darkroom books that were helpful or interesting.

 

[Derrel]

I read the entire series when I was a teenager, when I was starting out in photography. They taught me a huuuuuuuuge amount about cameras, lenses, film, portraiture,photojournalism, special problems, the studio, and the history of photography. These were very popular books in the 1970's and 1980's, and the experts who wrote and advised were some of the most important people in the photo world at the time. These were not written by just one or two people. The last time I was at a used bookstore, they had a lot of volumes at $2-$5 each, depending on condition. Again, this was a hugely successful series, but as the years have passed it is seen a lot less frequently than it was 15,20 years ago.

Imagine reading these books: Color, Photography As A Tool, Special Problems, The Great Themes, Travel Photography, Light and Film, Photographing Children, The Camera, The Studio, The Print, Caring For Photographs, Photojournalism, Photographing Nature, Great Photographers, Frontiers of Photography, Documentary Photography.

I think you might just learn a few things. I know I did. You will learn a huge amount about photography, photographic theory, photographic technique, and photography-related concepts. You will NOT learn squat about how to operate Lightroom, or how to shoot 3,900 digital frames per week and how to archive that shi+ onto hard drives, or how to gain followers on Instagram or Facebook. There is no digital imaging in this series: it is entirely about the art, science, and craft of photography.