Book ~ "Look At This If You Love Great Photography" (2021) Gemma Padley

From Goodreads ~ "Look At This If You Love Great Photography" is a must read for anyone who appreciates the power of the image. Featuring 100 of the best photographs ever captured on camera, Gemma Padley offers concise, insightful summaries on just what it is that makes each one so special.

Having written for some of the most important publications on modern photography, Gemma draws on her expert knowledge to reveal the fascinating stories behind these incredible pictures, focusing in on why each image chosen represents such a high point in photographic history. Uniquely curated to offer a fresh perspective on the medium, expect to see pictures from legends of the art form, including Ansel Adams and Martin Parr, alongside cutting-edge examples from the studios of the most creative photographers operating today.

Whether it’s gut-punching photojournalism that changed public opinion and made us question who we are, or images that rewrite the rules of photography and blur the lines between other art forms, this is a penetrating rundown of the pictures that really matter and you need to see them.

I like reading books about photography because I find it interesting to see what interests people enough to take a photograph of it.

The author was invited to write a book featuring 100 photos of any genre and from any period in history that people must see.  The book was divided into 10 different categories:

1. Breaking the Rules
2. Photos That Make You Look Twice
3. A Punch in the Gut
4. Reflecting on Who We Are
5. Flirting with Other Art Forms
6. Photos That Could Be Dreams
7. Reappraising the Everyday
8. Colour is King
9. A Wonderful World
10. Capturing What the Eye Can't See

Along with each picture were suggestions to Google other images by the same photographer or similar works by other photographers; an interesting fact about the photograph; sources to further your knowledge; movies, documentaries, interviews, etc. worth investigating; podcasts and interviews to find out more about the photographer and their work; and list of other photographers with similar works or influences.

Sometimes when I see someone taking a picture, I'll stop and try to see what they are seeing ... sometimes I see it, sometimes I don't.  And that's how I felt about this book.  With some pictures, I could understand why it was photograph-worthy while others I didn't get.  But that's the beauty of taking photographs ... it's what catches your own eye that's important.

I found it interesting that for a book that contains 100 "great" photographs, the book cover was fairly bland and nondescript.