Photofile – serie

With the discovery of her archive in a thrift auction house in 2007, Vivian Maier’s posthumous trajectory from relative obscurity to one of the great American photographers of the 20th century is a story of a singular consistent talent. From the mid 1950s throughout her adult life she worked as a nanny between New York and Chicago, and it was during this time that she created a huge body of photographs and films recording every day street life, often including her own self portrait and moments of fleeting reflection within the cityscape. With her work compared to Helen Levitt, Robert Frank and Diane Arbus, her photographs are a fascinating window into American life.

A compact survey of Saul Leiter's distinctive work, featuring 64 of his most characteristic works. Saul Leiter was one of those photographers who sought neither fame nor commercial success, despite his talent for imagemaking. Born in Pittsburgh, he spent his entire adult life in New York City's East Village, in an intensely creative environment where ideas from Europe and America came together and intermingled. There he encountered Rothko and the Abstract Expressionists, and discovered street photography and the work of Henri Cartier-Bresson. His mastery of colour is displayed in unconventional cityscapes in which reflections, transparency, complex framing and mirroring effects are married to a very personal printing style, creating a unique kind of urban view. The Photofile SeriesPhotofile brings together the best work of the world’s greatest photographers in an attractive, accessible, pocket-sized format. Handsome and collectable, the books are printed to the highest standards. Each one contains over sixty full-page reproductions printed in superb duotone, together with a critical introduction and a full bibliography.

Brassaï’s most famous portraits and cityscapes, collected in this title in the acclaimed Photofiles series, form a unique vision of life in pre- and post-war Europe. No photographer is more closely associated with a city than Brassaï (1899–1984) is with Paris. From the moment he moved there in 1924, he devoted his life and art to immortalizing his adopted city – capturing the street life by day, the cafés and the Seine by night. A friend of Picasso and Henry Miller, Brassaï knew and photographed the leading figures of his day – Giacometti, Sartre, Dalí, Matisse and Mann among them. His most famous portraits and cityscapes, collected in this volume, form a unique vision of life in pre- and post-war Europe. The Photofile SeriesPhotofile brings together the best work of the world’s greatest photographers in an attractive, accessible, pocket-sized format. Handsome and collectable, the books are printed to the highest standards. Each one contains over sixty full-page reproductions printed in superb duotone, together with a critical introduction and a full bibliography.

Part of the acclaimed Photofile series, this introduction to Henri Cartier-Bresson's best work features over 60 photographs from his trips around the world. Henri Cartier-Bresson (1908–2004) studied painting before taking up photography in his early twenties. One of the founders of the photography agency Magnum (together with Robert Capa and others), he is best known for the consummate skill with which he captured the most fleeting of scenes. This book, introduced by Michael Brenson, includes selections from his photographs of France, Spain, America, India, Russia, Mexico and pre-revolutionary China. The Photofile SeriesPhotofile brings together the best work of the world’s greatest photographers in an attractive, accessible, pocket-sized format. Handsome and collectable, the books are printed to the highest standards. Each one contains over sixty full-page reproductions printed in superb duotone, together with a critical introduction and a full bibliography.

Part of the Photofile series, this mini-monograph on Belgian photographer Harry Gruyaert features 74 of his best photographs. Born in Antwerp in 1941, Harry Gruyaert was a pioneer of European colour photography in the 1970s and 1980s. In 1972, he created TV Shots, a series of images created by turning the dial on a television set at random and photographing the screen. Later he travelled the world, seeking out different kinds of light and exhibiting a particular fascination with borders, interfaces and incongruous juxtapositions. A member of Magnum Photos since 1982, he describes colour as ‘a means of sculpting what I see ... it’s the emotion of photography.’ Most recently he has begun to explore the experimental freedom offered by digital photography. Autonomous, non-narrative and often witty, Gruyaert’s images are complex encounters with colour and light. The Photofile SeriesPhotofile brings together the best work of the world’s greatest photographers in an attractive, accessible, pocket-sized format. Handsome and collectable, the books are printed to the highest standards. Each one contains over sixty full-page reproductions printed in superb duotone, together with a critical introduction and a full bibliography.

Part of the Photofile series, this essential overview of André Kertész's work features over 60 of his key photographs. André Kertész is one of the figures who shaped modern photography. From the First World War onwards, his independent spirit led him to practise an art based on spontaneity and sincerity, seeking out the chance moments that ‘capture the true nature of things.’ Tender, nostalgic, modest, he forged a new path for photography, a kind of poetic realism that was neither forced nor showy. ‘I never document,’ he said, ‘I give my own interpretation.’ The Photofile SeriesPhotofile brings together the best work of the world’s greatest photographers in an attractive, accessible, pocket-sized format. Handsome and collectable, the books are printed to the highest standards. Each one contains over sixty full-page reproductions printed in superb duotone, together with a critical introduction and a full bibliography.

Brooklyn-born photographer Helen Levitt (1913–2009) was an assistant to Walker Evans and a friend of Henri Cartier-Bresson, but forged her own path with fierce independence and endless curiosity about the world around her. She is best known for her street photography, capturing children at play on the streets of Depression-era New York and chalk drawings on walls, but she also cast her eye upon the adult world, seeking out moments of movement, transience and theatricality. Following her first solo exhibition at MoMA in 1943, she devoted more than a decade to filmmaking, but returned to photography in the late 1950s and began to work in colour as well as black and white. Lyrical and witty, her images reveal the streets of New York as flowing with life and unexpected poetry.With 68 illustrations

The perfect primer on American photographer Mary Ellen Mark, best known for her photojournalism, documentary photography, portraiture and advertising photography. The work of Mary Ellen Mark (1940–2015) bears witness to her fascination with the human condition and her gift for connecting intimately with her subjects. Skilled at blending into unusual or insular environments, she travelled all over the world and forged a body of work that combined photojournalism with portraiture. From Indian circus performers to American teenagers living on the streets, from Hollywood film sets to inmates in a secure hospital, her photographs are striking for their humanity and empathy. This title in Thames & Hudson's Photofile series features 75 of her renowned images. The Photofile SeriesPhotofile brings together the best work of the world’s greatest photographers in an attractive, accessible, pocket-sized format. Handsome and collectable, the books are printed to the highest standards. Each one contains over sixty full-page reproductions printed in superb duotone, together with a critical introduction and a full bibliography.

The perfect primer on the work of Man Ray, the Dadaist and pioneer of Surrealism. One of the most famous artists of the 20th century, a Dadaist and pioneer of Surrealism, Man Ray (1890–1976) became involved with photography in 1914. He was soon experimenting with different processes – solarization, negative images, multiple exposures – and in 1921 he created the 'rayograph' by exposing objects placed on to photosensitive material. This book collects together over 60 examples of his experimental work as well as portraits of some of the most important figures in modern art, including Brancusi, Breton, Giacometti and Max Ernst. The Photofile SeriesPhotofile brings together the best work of the world’s greatest photographers in an attractive, accessible, pocket-sized format. Handsome and collectable, the books are printed to the highest standards. Each one contains over sixty full-page reproductions printed in superb duotone, together with a critical introduction and a full bibliography.

Part of the Photofile series, this carefully curated collection of Helmut Newton's chic, provocative and erotically charged photographs features over sixty of his most renowned images. Helmut Newton (1920-2004) lived and worked all over the world and was one of the most internationally famous and controversial photographers of the 20th century. His shots of haute couture and the beau monde are instantly recognizable, having appeared in virtually every major magazine in Europe and the United States. From his early work for Vogue to his portraits of the rich and famous, Newton conveys a unique vision of a wealthy and glamorous world that often shocks but never ceases to fascinate. Karl Lagerfeld introduces this collection of 64 of Newton's most renowned photographs. The Photofile SeriesPhotofile brings together the best work of the world’s greatest photographers in an attractive, accessible, pocket-sized format. Handsome and collectable, the books are printed to the highest standards. Each one contains over sixty full-page reproductions printed in superb duotone, together with a critical introduction and a full bibliography.

An essential primer on Josef Koudelka's work, featuring 66 of his outstanding photographs. Josef Koudelka (b. 1938) is a Czech-French photographer whose powerful black-and-white images have made him one of the most influential documentary photographers of the 20th and 21st centuries. He first gained international recognition for his photographs of the 1968 Soviet-led invasion of Czechoslovakia, which captured the human impact of political upheaval with remarkable courage and immediacy. After leaving his homeland, Koudelka spent decades documenting the lives of marginalized communities, landscapes and traces of human history across Europe and the Middle East. His striking compositions, emotional depth and unwavering commitment to visual storytelling have profoundly shaped the language of modern photography. This title in Thames & Hudson's renowned Photofile series features sixty-six of his stand-out works. The Photofile SeriesPhotofile brings together the best work of the world’s greatest photographers in an attractive, accessible, pocket-sized format. Handsome and collectable, the books are printed to the highest standards. Each one contains over sixty full-page reproductions printed in superb duotone, together with a critical introduction and a full bibliography.

A compact survey of Bill Brandt's most memorable images. Whether taking pictures of London streets during the blackout or sleepers in the Underground during the Blitz; coal miners or high society in pre-war Britain; moody, pared-down landscapes or elegant abstracted nudes, Bill Brandt always imbued his photographs with strangeness and mystery, with a Surrealist touch, with rich connotations. This book in the Photofile series reproduces about sixty of his most memorable images. The Photofile SeriesPhotofile brings together the best work of the world’s greatest photographers in an attractive, accessible, pocket-sized format. Handsome and collectable, the books are printed to the highest standards. Each one contains over sixty full-page reproductions printed in superb duotone, together with a critical introduction and a full bibliography.

The perfect primer on Sarah Moon's photographs: 'A showcase of both her work and of her ethereal, otherworldly style' Independent Sarah Moon (b. 1941) is a French photographer renowned for her dreamlike, atmospheric images that blur the boundaries between fashion, portraiture and fine art. She turned to photography in the early 1970s, developing a distinctive visual style characterized by soft focus, muted tones and a sense of mystery. Beyond commercial commissions, Moon has produced acclaimed personal projects, films and reinterpretations of fairy tales, establishing herself as one of the most original and influential photographic artists of her generation. This title in Thames & Hudson's renowned Photofile series features a foreword by the photographer herself, and 82 of her best images. The Photofile SeriesPhotofile brings together the best work of the world’s greatest photographers in an attractive, accessible, pocket-sized format. Handsome and collectable, the books are printed to the highest standards. Each one contains over sixty full-page reproductions printed in superb duotone, together with a critical introduction and a full bibliography.

An introduction to the renowned Swedish photographer Anders Petersen, featuring 63 of his intimate and personal documentary-style black-and-white photographs. Anders Petersen (b. 1944) is perhaps best known for his book Café Lehmitz, which was first published in 1978 and is now recognized as one of the classics of post-war European photography. In it, he captured a time and place now long gone – a bar on Hamburg’s Reeperbahn teeming with prostitutes, dropouts and the fringe elements that went to make up a warm-hearted family of non-conformists with whom he identified and felt totally at home. In 1970, he co-founded SAFTRA, the Stockholm group of photographers, and has since gone on taking photographs in his own unique fashion, following the rhythms of his own life. This title in Thames & Hudson's renowned Photofile series features 63 of Petersen's most renowned images. The Photofile SeriesPhotofile brings together the best work of the world’s greatest photographers in an attractive, accessible, pocket-sized format. Handsome and collectable, the books are printed to the highest standards. Each one contains over sixty full-page reproductions printed in superb duotone, together with a critical introduction and a full bibliography.

An illuminating introduction to little-known photographer Issei Suda, who captured the soul of Japan old and new. The work of Issei Suda (1940–2019) is distinct in contemporary avant-garde Japanese photography for its celebration of the beauty of the everyday. His black and white pictures reflect on apparent banality of urban life, capturing ‘the little surprises usually ignored in our world’: the shadow of a figure, the shapes of the street, the expressions on stranger's faces. Suda’s practice revealed the tensions between old and new Japan, juxtaposing the ingrained visual traditions of Japanese culture with the prevailing western vocabulary of fashion, advertising and leisure, as seen through his observant and tender lens. In Thames & Hudson's acclaimed Photofile series, this compact survey features sixty of Suda's best photographs. The Photofile SeriesPhotofile brings together the best work of the world’s greatest photographers in an attractive, accessible, pocket-sized format. Handsome and collectable, the books are printed to the highest standards. Each one contains over sixty full-page reproductions printed in superb duotone, together with a critical introduction and a full bibliography.

The perfect primer on the surrealist writer and photographer Claude Cahun, featuring 67 of her pioneering works. Claude Cahun (1894–1954), the chosen name of the artist born Lucy Schwob, was best known in her lifetime as a writer but built up a remarkable body of photographic work that only came to prominence after her death. Politically active and involved with a wide circle of artists and intellectuals, including the Surrealists, Cahun followed her own rules in both life and art. She is best known for her strikingly staged self-portraits, in which she used costumes, makeup and technical effects to tackle themes of identity and self-representation. Her love of symmetry, mirroring, repurposing and retouching was also reflected in her approach to other styles of photography, including portraiture, photomontage and still-life tableaux. Whether working alone or in collaboration with her life partner Marcel Moore (born Suzanne Malherbe), Claude Cahun was a pioneering figure in the aesthetics of modernity who never stopped crossing boundaries of gender and genre. The Photofile SeriesPhotofile brings together the best work of the world’s greatest photographers in an attractive, accessible, pocket-sized format. Handsome and collectable, the books are printed to the highest standards. Each one contains over sixty full-page reproductions printed in superb duotone, together with a critical introduction and a full bibliography.

The perfect primer on the pioneering work of London-based Ghanaian photographer James Barnor.With a practice spanning six decades and two continents, ranging from street to studio and fashion to documentary, Ghanaian photographer James Barnor (b.1929) is now recognised as a pivotal figure in the history of photography. Moving between Accra and London throughout his life, Barnor's photographic portraits visibly map societies in transition: Ghana winning independence from Britain, and London embracing the freedoms of the swinging sixties. He has said: 'I was lucky to be alive when things were happening ... when Ghana was going to be independent and Ghana became independent, and when I came to England the Beatles were around. Things were happening in the sixties, so I call myself Lucky Jim.' Barnor's photographs have been described as 'slices of history, documenting race and modernity in the post-colonial world', and he has been the subject of several major retrospectives over the last fifteen years. With 72 illustrations, this concise survey in the Photofile series is the perfect overview of his multifaceted work. The Photofile SeriesPhotofile brings together the best work of the world’s greatest photographers in an attractive, accessible, pocket-sized format. Handsome and collectable, the books are printed to the highest standards. Each one contains over sixty full-page reproductions printed in superb duotone, together with a critical introduction and a full bibliography.

Part of the Photofile series, this introduction to the work of renowned photojournalist Robert Capa features nearly seventy of most renowned images. Robert Capa (1913–1954) gave the world some of the most moving and memorable images of war ever taken, and redefined photojournalism for ever. Through his photographs we see the suffering, confusion, boredom and courage of the soldiers and civilians affected by the five wars that he covered. Yet he was more than a war photographer: Capa's portraits of politicians and artists are equally memorable. A participant, not an observer, Capa lived his life on the edge and died in action, killed by a landmine in Vietnam. The Photofile SeriesPhotofile brings together the best work of the world’s greatest photographers in an attractive, accessible, pocket-sized format. Handsome and collectable, the books are printed to the highest standards. Each one contains over sixty full-page reproductions printed in superb duotone, together with a critical introduction and a full bibliography.

Featuring 63 of his most acclaimed photographs, this is the perfect primer on Sebastião Salgado (1944–2025), the legendary Brazilian social documentary photographer and photojournalist. Sebastião Salgado’s images of the Sahel famine and his colossal project ‘Workers’ would be enough to make his reputation and justify all the awards he received. But there is more. A native of Brazil, trained as an economist, Sebastião Salgado showed a constant faith in mankind, a solidarity that never wavered nor flinched in the face of pain, an ability to analyse extreme situations, a fierce drive to affirm what he truly was, a humanist photographer. The Photofile SeriesPhotofile brings together the best work of the world’s greatest photographers in an attractive, accessible, pocket-sized format. Handsome and collectable, the books are printed to the highest standards. Each one contains over sixty full-page reproductions printed in superb duotone, together with a critical introduction and a full bibliography.

Magnum reporter Elliott Erwitt (born 1928) is a witty photographer with an eye that is not always optimistic, but is always stylish. Sudden coincidences and chance encounters with objects and situations allow him to capture glimpses of the ridiculous or comical side of everyday events. Dogs are his favourite subject, an affectionate metaphor for human frailities. Erwitt’s visual jokes become striking and pithy observations about life.

The perfect primer on the provocative fashion photographer Guy Bourdin. Guy Bourdin (1928–1991) was a fashion photographer whose talent and strength of vision were apparent even in his earliest works. He shared Helmut Newton’s taste for controversy and stylization, but Bourdin’s formal daring and the narrative power of his images exceeded the bounds of conventional advertising photography. Shattering expectations and questioning boundaries, he set the stage for a new kind of fashion photography. This title in Thames & Hudson's renowned Photofile series features an introduction by Sarah Moon and 64 of Bourdin's best photographs. The Photofile SeriesPhotofile brings together the best work of the world’s greatest photographers in an attractive, accessible, pocket-sized format. Handsome and collectable, the books are printed to the highest standards. Each one contains over sixty full-page reproductions printed in superb duotone, together with a critical introduction and a full bibliography.

A concise introduction to the great American photographer Berenice Abbott (1898–1991), featuring 60 of her finest photographs. Although she was born in the US, it was in Paris that Berenice Abbott's lifelong passion for photography was forged. She first took up the art while working as an assistant to Man Ray, but soon left to set up her own studio where she photographed the leading lights of Paris's literary and artistic circles, including James Joyce and Jean Cocteau. She also met and was inspired by the great photographer Eugène Atget, whose work she tirelessly promoted. On her return to her homeland, Abbott began her major project, Changing New York, in which she documented the interaction between the city's dramatic architecture and its people in a series of remarkable images that made her name. By the time of her death at the age of 93, Abbott's diverse body of work had earned her a place as one of the greatest American photographers. This title in Thames & Hudson's renowned Photofile series features 60 of Abbott's finest photographs. The Photofile SeriesPhotofile brings together the best work of the world’s greatest photographers in an attractive, accessible, pocket-sized format. Handsome and collectable, the books are printed to the highest standards. Each one contains over sixty full-page reproductions printed in superb duotone, together with a critical introduction and a full bibliography.

This title in Thames & Hudson's acclaimed Photofile series brings together 67 of Ernst Haas's best photographs. One of the pioneers of colour photography, Ernst Haas (1921–1986) began his photographic career in the 1940s in Vienna, rising to fame following the publication of his photo essay on returning prisoners of war from Russia. In 1951, Haas made his home in New York, and became renowned for his work with motion photography and advertising campaigns for companies such as Marlboro, Chrysler and Volkswagen. Featuring 67 of his most representative images and a bibliography for further reading, this is an ideal introduction to the photographer. The Photofile SeriesPhotofile brings together the best work of the world’s greatest photographers in an attractive, accessible, pocket-sized format. Handsome and collectable, the books are printed to the highest standards. Each one contains over sixty full-page reproductions printed in superb duotone, together with a critical introduction and a full bibliography.

'A good starting point for anyone wishing to get acquainted with Moriyama’s work' Amateur Photographer Daido Moriyama (b. 1938) first came to prominence in the mid-1960s. If there is one theme that jumps out from his work, it is Tokyo. He also draws inspiration from William Klein’s confrontational photographs of New York, Shomei Tomatsu’s trenchant social critiques, Andy Warhol’s silkscreened multiples, and the writings of Jack Kerouac and Yukio Mishima. Light and Shadow is the title of a book published by Moriyama in 1982, but it could just as easily be applied to his whole photographic oeuvre, given the dialogue he so powerfully sets up between light and shadow, black and white. Featuring 86 of his most renowned photographs, this is the perfect introduction to this seminal photographer. The Photofile SeriesPhotofile brings together the best work of the world’s greatest photographers in an attractive, accessible, pocket-sized format. Handsome and collectable, the books are printed to the highest standards. Each one contains over sixty full-page reproductions printed in superb duotone, together with a critical introduction and a full bibliography.

A selection of mysterious and striking 'found' photographs: 'Touching, shocking, comical and banal snapshots to ignite your imagination' Tatler A side effect of the rise of photography as a popular art form has been the accumulation of a huge body of images whose photographers and subjects remain unknown. Among these are many fascinating photographs – some almost masterpieces – that could easily have been lost forever, were it not for their chance rediscovery in libraries and archives, homes and institutions. This title in the Photofile series presents over 100 of these mysterious and highly collectable images. They portray a striking range of people, animals and objects, captured in scenes that may be witty, touching, sinister or surreal. As viewers, our imaginations are immediately engaged as we try to reconstruct the story behind each picture, and the collection as a whole forms a quirky, alternative history of photography as a medium and its endless power to surprise. The Photofile SeriesPhotofile brings together the best work of the world’s greatest photographers in an attractive, accessible, pocket-sized format. Handsome and collectable, the books are printed to the highest standards. Each one contains over sixty full-page reproductions printed in superb duotone, together with a critical introduction and a full bibliography.

A compact survey of the work of Gordon Parks, the American photographer best known for documenting issues such as poverty, race relations and civil rights. Gordon Parks (1912–2006) was a pioneering figure in 20th-century photography. As well as being the first African-American photographer to join the Farm Security Administration (FSA) and to become a staff photographer for Life magazine, he was also a writer, film director and composer. Although best known for documenting issues such as poverty, race relations and civil rights, he was remarkably versatile, turning his gift for visual narrative to subjects as diverse as news coverage, fashion, art and sport. He also captured prominent figures of his era, from Malcolm X to Marilyn Monroe, in a series of memorable portraits. Working in the US and around the world, he was driven by a commitment to social justice: ‘The common search for a better life and a better world is deeper than colour or blood.' Featuring 92 reproductions of his most trenchant photographs, this title in Thames & Hudson's renowned Photofile series is the perfect primer on this pioneering photographer. The Photofile SeriesPhotofile brings together the best work of the world’s greatest photographers in an attractive, accessible, pocket-sized format. Handsome and collectable, the books are printed to the highest standards. Each one contains over sixty full-page reproductions printed in superb duotone, together with a critical introduction and a full bibliography.

Part of the acclaimed Photofile series, this introduction to documentary photographer Marc Riboud features 62 of his most powerful images. Magnum photographer Marc Riboud travelled the world, from Europe to the Middle East and from Vietnam to the United States. Repelled by violence, indifferent to the pursuit of ‘events’, yet irresistibly drawn by the desire to see, he was a reporter under the spell of life itself. Whether covering the Cultural Revolution or the Soviet Union before perestroika, he waited for the inner truth to ‘rise to the surface of things’. These photographs reveal his intense awareness of the innate power of each image. The Photofile SeriesPhotofile brings together the best work of the world’s greatest photographers in an attractive, accessible, pocket-sized format. Handsome and collectable, the books are printed to the highest standards. Each one contains over sixty full-page reproductions printed in superb duotone, together with a critical introduction and a full bibliography.

A compact survey of the work of William Klein, best known for his series New York. William Klein (1928–2022) was a photographer who always moved against the current. A painter, filmmaker, graphic designer and fashion photographer, Klein's shots were intense and immediate, disrupting the established order of things and capturing fragmented snatches of distortion and movement. Although best known for his images of New York in the 1950s, he also worked in other urban environments, including Tokyo and Moscow, as well as producing a striking series of painted contact sheets. Featuring 66 of his most acclaimed photographs, this survey shows how his insatiable desire to confront the chaos of the world always shone through. The Photofile SeriesPhotofile brings together the best work of the world’s greatest photographers in an attractive, accessible, pocket-sized format. Handsome and collectable, the books are printed to the highest standards. Each one contains over sixty full-page reproductions printed in superb duotone, together with a critical introduction and a full bibliography.

Part of the Photofile series, this book surveys the work of Magnum member Richard Kalvar, contemporary master of the street photograph. A member of the celebrated Magnum agency, Richard Kalvar (b. 1944) has spent nearly five decades building up a diverse body of work characterized by a finely honed sense of observation. Born in Brooklyn, New York, he has travelled all over the world, capturing fleeting details and moments of absurdity. This survey presents about 60 of best photographs, all of which offer glimpses into untold stories, reflecting an idiosyncratic approach to the act and practice of photography. The Photofile SeriesPhotofile brings together the best work of the world’s greatest photographers in an attractive, accessible, pocket-sized format. Handsome and collectable, the books are printed to the highest standards. Each one contains over sixty full-page reproductions printed in superb duotone, together with a critical introduction and a full bibliography.