Who Cares About Books? by Darius Himes

The reading starts off with an important statement which gives true meaning and importance to books:

 "Books are conveyors of ideas, mementos of civilization, and harbin- gers of change. As the late historian Barbara W. Tuchman wrote, “Without books, history is silent, literature dumb, science crippled, thought and speculation at a standstill. Without books, the development of civilization would have been impossible.”'

The importance of books is never ending. The photographer has many advantages with books, including the ability to revisit important works, it is like a hand held exhibition. We are able to use photo books and re-live what was from the past and learn from it as well. "We are at a point where the history of the photobook has now entered into the realm of academic study." All the aspects of a book come together to create something that is more then just a book but a vessel of information and visual experience. 

"A photobook is an autonomous art form, comparable with a piece of sculpture, a play or a film. The photographs lose their own photographic character as things “in themselves” and become parts, translated into printing ink, of a dramatic event called a book."

The golden age is now a stepping stone to allow the book making processes to be put into the hands of anyone willing to pay a small starting price. This implies that an entire industry will be set aside and the power of book creation is now given away.This leaves photographers with the task of truely understand their art form and the craft and language therein.

"The job of photographers, apart from making relevant work, is to learn the language of a complex art and craft, and to consider the rich pos- sibilities therein, before stating that they want to publish a book of their photographs."