A friend of mine grew up quite close to Yellowstone National Park and from time to time speaks of it fondly. Since I’ve never been there and don’t have any plans to go there any time soon, I thought I’d get a couple of books instead.

The first is titled: “Yellowstone. A Land of Wild and Wonder” by Christopher Cauble. It’s an attractive 11×11 inch color photobook with a dust cover bearing the same image as that on the front cover of the book. According to the book’s “About the Photographer”:

Christopher Cauble grew up in Helena, Montana where he began his passion for photography by exploring the mountains with a 35mm camera passed down from his parents. After graduating from the University of Montana with a bachelor’s degree in geography, he became a freelance photographer working mostly in Montana and Yellowstone National Park. His work has been featured in magazines and books, including A Montana Journal and the popular children’s book, What I saw in Yellowstone. Cauble is also a dedicated nature cinematographer, and his videos have been published on many national and international news sites and television programs. He lives near Yellowstone in Livingstone, Montana, with his wife, Sarah. His work can be found on his website, www.caublephotography.com and on social media.

The book has 120 pages, which, apart from a short (approx. half page) introduction are all beautiful photographs covering landscapes, wildlife and thermals.

The second book is called “Found Photos of Yellowstone. Yellowstone’s History in tourist and employee photographs. It’s a 176-page softcover book full of black and white, historical photographs divided into thirteen sections:

• Foreword
• Introduction
• From Rustic to Refined
• The Wonders of Wonderland
• Getting Around Was Half the Fun
• The Evolution of Camping
• Activities Abound
• Hard Work and Lots of Play
• Famous Figures
• Exploring Yellowstone Dude Ranch Style
• Time Well Spent: Civilian Conservation Corps
• The U.S. Military to the Rescue
• Wildlife Attractions

Amazon describes it as follows:

“Found Photos of Yellowstone” presents a collection of over 200 photographs, captured by park visitors and employees between 1880 and 1940. These unguarded snapshots unveil unseen moments from the park’s past, offering unique perspectives on accommodation, transportation, leisure activities, wildlife, and summer employment. The images were discovered by Michael Francis, a seasoned Yellowstone photographer, who has amassed a collection of over 11,000 historic Yellowstone photographs. Each image in this book has been carefully selected by renowned Yellowstone historian Lee Whittlesey, who also co-authored the captions with acclaimed writer Amy Grisak. These pictures are sure to astonish and charm all Yellowstone enthusiasts. They illustrate the transformation of Yellowstone over the years, while also highlighting the enduring charm that has captivated visitors and employees for over a century”.

It’s quite different from the Cauble book. Where that book is pretty much entirely photographs, this one is rich in text. There’s a short, two-page introduction and each of the sections has its own description. The photographs all have detailed captions. Another way it differs from the Cauble book is that it doesn’t just show the awe-inspiring vistas, wildlife, thermals etc. Apart from tiny figures near the base of Grand Geyser and Old Faithful, there are no people. There’s only one photograph of a building: “Old Faithful Geyser and Inn Under the Milky Way”. I was surprised to find that contrary to what some of Cauble photographs suggest, Old Faithful is not “in the middle of nowhere”. Rather it’s a stone’s throw from the Old Faithful Inn.

This book shows that there were a number of beautiful, old, rustic Inns at one time. Have they all gone? Apparently not, as a cursory Google search reveals that a number of them are still operational. This book is full of people enjoying themselves, buildings and other structures, vehicles (cars, boats, trains, horse drawn carriages etc.).

So, which one do I prefer…

The photographs in the Cauble photobook are definitely superior: sharp, well composed, well exposed by a very talented professional who clearly knows how to produce lovely images. I enjoyed the book, but somehow, it didn’t touch me. Apart from creating a feeling of awe at the beauty of Yellowstone the photographs didn’t really inspire any other feelings. This may be typical of landscape photography. When I first started taking photography seriously in the late 1970s, Ansel Adams was starting to become very popular. At that time, I felt that this was the type of photography I wanted to do. I wanted to be Ansel Adams. I have a number of books of Adams photography, and I still admire him for all the things he did, both for photography and for nature conservancy in general. However, I recently looked through one of the books: “Ansel Adams. 400 photographs“. I was surprised to find that only a few of the 400 photographs made me feel anything much. The photographs in the Francis book are nowhere near as good as those in the Cauble book. They’re just snapshots, but I suspect that they give a more accurate picture of the real Yellowstone. I can feel the joy of people having a great time; sadness that maybe a simpler age has now gone; excitement while looking at the beautiful hotels, etc.

But then again maybe that’s just me. I love photography, but I also love history (I’m the Vice President of our local historical society), so my preference if for “Found Pictures of Yellowstone”.

An exceptional selection of photographs by Japan’s leading photographer from Record, the artist’s self-curated journal, published in the early 1970s and from 1996 to the present day. It has 230+ pages, 50+ in color. There’s a short (five page) introduction by Mark Holborn.

Inspired by Japanese photographers, as well as by William Klein’s seminal photography book on New York, Daido Moriyama moved from Osaka to Tokyo in the early sixties to become a photographer. He became the leading exponent of a fierce new photographic style that corresponded perfectly to the abrasive and intense climate of Tokyo during a period of great social upheaval. Between June 1972 and July 1973 Moriyama produced his own magazine publication, Kiroku, which was then referred to as Record. It became a diaristic journal of his work as it developed. Ten years ago, after a decades-long interval, he was able to resume publication of Record. Now this book collects work from all thirty published issues, edited into a single sequence, punctuated by Moriyama’s own text as it appeared in the magazine. After this volume was produced, Moriyama continued with “Record”. Subsequently, a second volume, the direct sequel to Record was created and called Record 2. This volume presents a selection of photographs from Daido Moriyama’s magazine publication Record, from issues 31 to 50 and spanning 2017 to the present.

The book is exceptionally well made. The reproduction of the photographs is of very high quality, and the whole book is contained in a slipcase.

If, like me, you’re a fan of Moriyama’s style (grainy, high contrast, not always ultra sharp images) you’ll love this book).

I’ve always been a huge fan of Henri Cartier-Bresson and I’ve been trying to get my hands on a copy of “The Decisive Moment” for some time. Unfortunately, it’s quite rare and extremely expensive – more than I wanted to pay. So, I was very pleased to discover that the Henri Cartier-Bresson Foundation had re-printed it:

The Decisive Moment (Images à la Sauvette in French) is one of the greatest photography books ever published. It brings together photographic material from the first twenty years of Henri Cartier-Bresson’s career.

Images à la Sauvette was published in 1952 by Verve, with an original cover by Matisse. It was the result of a collaboration between the photographer, the famous art critic and publisher Tériade, and the painter, at the peak of his career. The American version, published the same year by Simon and Schuster, was the first to introduce the now-famous expression “decisive moment”.

The book, which reveals the intrinsic duality of Henri Cartier-Bresson’s work, the combination of intimate interpretation with documentary observation, received tremendous critical acclaim within the art world and is considered a “bible for photographers”, in the words of photographer Robert Capa. It remains an essential reference for photographers to this day.

The original book, now out of print, has become a collector’s item. The Fondation Henri Cartier-Bresson sought to make this classic photography book accessible again, in a smaller and practical format, at an affordable price. The latest print features the same material as the original 1952 edition and is accompanied by a comprehensive study of the book’s making, its enduring popularity and the considerations behind its title, written by Clément Chéroux, Director of the Fondation Henri Cartier-Bresson.

Most of the book is taken up by Cartier-Bresson’s wonderful photographs. These are preceded by a short (14 page) introduction written by Cartier-Bresson where he presents his views on photography. I’m sure that when the book was published this was absolutely fascinating, but I’ve read a lot about and by Cartier-Bresson, so it didn’t tell me much that I didn’t already know.

To me the most interesting part of the book (other than the photographs, many of which I had not seen before) was Clément Chéroux’s piece: “A Bible for Photographers” described above.

The book is much smaller than the original, nor is the printing apparently as excellent (or so I’ve read somewhere) as in the original. Despite this I’m glad that I bought it.