Jane Bown: A Lifetime of Looking

A mighty tome, had to collect it as it was too big for my letterbox. Well worth the trouble.

The photographs are extraordinary, catching the moments of ordinary life that we all recognise, but with the hidden emotions shining out from the page.

This is an all-round excellent book of pictures by an excellent photographer. As someone interested in photography there is much to be learned from what she did and didn't do in the course of her work. However, anyone interested in the UK from 1950 to 2010 would find much of interest here. Brown brings the same simple technique and tools to pictures of ordinary people or so called celebrities. One thing she didn't bring was an over-sized ego. Very encouraging to see it all work so well over such a long period. There is some overlap in the photographs chosen with another book I have; 'Exposures', edited by the same person, but enough of a difference that both books are worth owning.(Only down side was the terrible packing by Amazon UK, which resulted in some (minor) damage to the book in transit. They need to check with Amazon US, or Amazon Canada, to see how it's done.)

Got this for my niece's 18th - she's studying Photography, so thought (hoped!) it would be of interest to her. I had a good leaf through it before sending and thought it was really good, would happily have kept it for myself! She (happily!) was really chuffed with it and I would generally recommend to anyone with an artistic eye and/or an interest in photography :)

A beautiful book, ideal for anyone who is interested in photographs of the social history of UK. It’s a big book, more like a coffee table book, but one you can pick up and browse through time and time again. Some colour, but mainly black and white which is what Jane Bown was more comfortable with.

Buying any photographic book on-line can be tricky but this one is a treasure to behold.

If I buy a collection of a famous photographer's work, I expect the very best of the best to make the cut. I DON'T expect some rubbishy or mediocre fillers - and there are plenty of them in this hook - I assume in the name of being 'new' or for 'variety' on the part of the editor who's perhaps used the best already in 3 other books. Jane Bown was outstanding in portraiture but her street/candid/documentary work - if this book edit is anything to go by - could at times be poor. Heads cut off etc etc - poorly composed and without much of merit to lift it and make it interesting. It would not be published anywhere but for her name. I've seen numerous amateur street photos better. There's notable exceptions, of course, such as the photo on the cover, and other good ones - but really there are some seriously crappy and mediocre photos in this book. Others are just a waste of time such as the Highland Sporran that has zero artistic or historical merit to be in this book. As I flick the pages I then get her outstanding work which is really really good. I'd much rather a smaller book with her best than all this crap I have to wade through to get there. Very disappointed as I know how good this woman's best is.

The is a tremendous book for all photographers interested in taking pictures that are " in the moment". By most measures this is Street Photography Jane used B& W film extensively (although there is some colour used here) and made great use of available light and minimum of fuss. This book will be of particular interest if you have a digital camera that simulates Kodak Tri-X film which many of these images are taken on. Currently a bargain on Amazon.