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This Holiday season was a good one in the book department as we wound up with four really cool new photo books either as gifts or gifts to ourselves. The first book we received as a gift from my sister is The Here and Now by Sam Jones. Jones is a well-known celebrity photographer and this is a great collection of his work. He has a knack for pulling the personality out of his celebrity subjects which comes through in his photos as a partnership between the artist and the subject. Good stuff.

Following that is Annie Leibovitz’s At Work. This is somewhat auto-biographical in that it details her start and subsequent path to the photographer she is today. It’s an interesting read from the standpoint that she outlines the behind-the-scenes happenings that went into some of her most well-known photos, advice and teachings from mentors in her past, her migration to digital, and even some notes on her equipment. Any fan of Leibovitz is likely going to want this book just for the insight into how she works.

One of the unexpected finds happened just this weekend. While at Hennessy+Ingalls in Santa Monica, CA, we came across a huge book (20″x12.5″) called Metro: Photographic Elevations of Selected Paris Metro Stations by Larry Yust. It’s an awesome collection of panoramic photographs that detail many of the Paris Metro’s stations and information about each stop’s attractions. Having been to Paris a couple of times, it’s personally interesting to see the stations presented as the art they are. It brought both of us back to our visits to Paris, minus the distinct scent the stations have. (for the record, the scent isn’t ‘bad’, just ‘distinct’.) As a bonus, the copy we found was a first edition and signed by the artist-author (and going for a lot less than listed for on Amazon or Borders.com.)

Finally, my Mom gave us Vanity Fair – The Portraits by Graydon Carter. Another large book that presents some of the best photos in the long history of Vanity Fair. Looking through the book, it’s interesting to see how many iconic images were first run by Vanity Fair and eventually ingrained into the country’s consciousness. As a side note, we visited the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) this weekend. They are hosting the accompanying Vanity Fair Portraits show as a special exhibit. Many of the photos highlighted in the book were on display, all the way back to those from the early thirties. The book and the show were great and I’d highly recommend both if you get the chance.

Hope everyone else had a great Holiday season as well.