Customer Reviews

Personal Best

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

having just received this book I very quickly came to the conclusion that the "design" is a serious impediment to using and enjoying the book. First of all the weight, size and bulk make it impossible to enjoy with any degree of comfort - and at normal 'reading distances' the double page spreads require the head to roam around the page. Secondly, many of the images across double pages have their effect ruined by the spine. Many of the double page spreads are grossly over enlarged - some are rather out of focus to start with. Anybody interested in Erwitt would find much in these pages to enjoy, and indeed many of the images are of great quality. Sad that the "designer" has strove to acheive the wow factor associated with a slab of book on a bookshelf, rather than actually try to understand the elementary aspects of using and enjoying a book.

How unfortunate that these world-class photos are presented in totally the wrong editorial format and more so because the solution would have been simple: a landscape shaped book.

The 448 pages are printed on a reasonable matt art paper and this makes it a quite chunky book so that it cannot be opened without the pages curving into the gutter. The problems start with so many photos a spread wide with any centrally framed detail merging into the spine and basically destroying the photo. A landscape shaped page would avoid all the spread photos from having their centers ruined and allow for a margin round each as well.

Another problem is that most of the photos bleed off the page, which eliminates page numbers. To get round this, every so often, a photo has generous margins allowing for some numbers. The back of the book has nine pages of thumbnails and page numbers for every page even though throughout the bleed pages there are no numbers.

As to the photos, there are many classics here that are frequently shown whenever Erwitt is mentioned in print. The wonderful one of a mother looking lovingly at her baby on a bed (1953) that was in the Family of Man exhibition, the landscape shot of the a car racing a steam train in Wyoming 1954, two New York dogs, one huge and the other tiny and their owner's legs from 1974. There are several fun shots like the art class with the painters in the nude and the model fully clothed. There is another editorial problem here because as far as I can see the 343 photos are shown in no order. Surely, a book like this would do them in date order or themes: dogs (one of Erwitt's favorites) countries and cities; humor; children; New York; portraits etcetera.

The publishers have several Erwitt books in print and it looks like they all have the same editorial problems I've mentioned. This is so unfortunate because his work is part of the history of photography over several decades and their creativity would really have come across if more thought had been given to their presentation.

+++LOOK AT SOME INSIDE PAGES by clicking 'customer images' under the cover.

The master of the "indecisive moment" seemed to know just what he wanted when pulling together images for this project. "Eliot Erwitt: Personal Best" is a must for any photography lover or fan of life's funny moments. The printing and binding are the same quality one expects from a legendary house like teNeues. You will not be disappointed!

Other reviewers have mentioned the design of the book as a hindrance - for me, seeing the photographs printed large, full size, offers a chance to see what a real gallery print might look like, rather than a small, web / computer version of Erwitt's work that I have seen so many times online.

This collection has some of the best black and white street photography ever!

I bought this book after seeing the amazing exhibition of Elliott Erwitt's photography at New York's International Center of Photography.

Erwitt's work is broad in scope, including more traditional photo journalism, as well as what would better be described as street photography. Much of his work takes scenes from everyday life and finds the irony and humour in them. There's a long-necked bird right next to a pipe sticking from the ground that forms the same shape as the bird. There's a woman in a market with two coconuts on a shelf placed exactly where her breasts would be. We see silhouetted people on a train platform, who appear to be African Americans, while an advertising sign promotes Griffin Allwite white shoe polish. There are numerous hilarious pictures of dogs, including one with a tiny chihuahua next to a woman's feet and the feet of a great dane, that are almost as big as the chihuahua itself.

This book is very complete. It contains all my favourite photos from the exhibition and many more.

I would rate this book a five except for one thing. Many of the photos span across both pages on the spread. In the paperback version, this means the centres of many photos get somewhat lost in the binding. I saw a hardcover version of this book at the exhibition, and in contrast, its pages could open very wide so that the full picture could be properly seen.

Overall though, this is a great book with the best work of one of the best photographers of all time.

Des Hill has it exactly right in his review of this book. Every single one of his points is one that I would've made, though probably not as well. Elliott Erwitt is my favorite photographer, but I've yet to find a book that properly presents his genius without bad design getting in the way -- this book, expensively, included.

This one of the best books of photography I have. You can spent hours and hous seeing it and then, you would see it again.

Great shots, good compositions, marvellous technical elements...

The pictures talk for themselves, and they're given their full importance. It's filled with whole-page pictures, which is good, because you can really focus on them and make your own guess or interpretation, and then find out more about it in the back, but also has a bit of a down side, considering that the book is really heavy, so it can get a little tiring if you have to constantly check. Nevertheless, I willingly did.

Having been always interested in black and white photography, i had a good time reading Personal Best. There's more than meets the eye in reading the book- Erwitt really has a thing for freezing time and taking monumental photos that seem to have unique individual persona. Love the smell of the new book too.

not difficult reviw this book...is perfect : no number in the page , and one of the best Magnum potographer , and good price.!