Last year my favorite photography exhibit, and essential accompanying book purchase was Looking In: Robert Frank’s The Americans (Expanded Edition).

This year there will likely be no suspense in these matters. I’ve just received the Steidl publication of New Topographics, and it’s brilliant. The traveling exhibition opens next week at the Center for Creative Photography in Tucson, and then comes to SFMOMA in July. The show is a restaging of the seminal 1975 exhibit that marked a major shift in modern photography, and continues to be an influence 35 years later.

….curated by William Jenkins, who brought together ten contemporary photographers: Robert Adams, Lewis Baltz, Bernd and Hilla Becher, Joe Deal, Frank Gohlke, Nicholas Nixon, John Schott, Stephen Shore and Henry Wessel, Jr. Signaling the emergence of a new approach to landscape, the show effectively gave a name to a movement or style, although even today, the term “New Topographics”– more a conceptual gist than a precise adjective — is used to characterize the work of artists not yet born when the exhibition was held. Although the exhibit’s ambitions were hardly so grand, New Topographics has since come to be understood as marking a paradigm shift, for the show occurred just as photography ceased to be an isolated, self-defined practice and took its place within the contemporary art world. Arguably the last traditionally photographic style, New Topographics was also the first Photoconceptual style. In different ways, the artists thoughtfully engaged with their medium and its history, while simultaneously absorbing such issues as environmentalism, capitalism and national identity. In this vital reassessment of the genre, essays by Britt Salvesen and Alison Nordstrom accompany illustrations of selected works from the 1975 exhibition, with installation views and contextual comparisons, to demonstrate both the historical significance of New Topographics and its continued relevance today.

If you buy one photography coffee table book this year, put this high on your list. The book is $36.50 at Amazon and currently in stock, and is also available at photo-eye, or perhaps even your local bookstore. And if you missed the expanded edition of the Robert Frank book, then clear some extra room on your coffee table.

Looking for a last minute gift for the photographer on your list? Last year I put together a little B&H list with a few gift ideas for photographers. This year I’ve put together a list of highly recommended books. Today is the last day for free shipping from Amazon with delivery by Christmas.

1. Roger Ballen’s Boarding House – Shares the top honors for Book of the Year.
2. The expanded edition of Looking In: Robert Frank’s The Americans. Huge. Thorough. Beautiful. Robert Frank’s proof sheets! Shares the top honors for Book of the Year.
3. Taryn Simon’s American Index of the Hidden and Unfamiliar is one of my favorite books of the last few years. Absolutely essential.
4. Troy Paiva turned me on to George Stewart’s classic post-apocalyptic novel from 1949, Earth Abides. Highly recommended.
5. The Photobook is a permanent fixture in my living room, because it’s so enjoyable. Yes, it’s 50 bucks — if you need something special for the photographer on your list, this book is 50 bucks well spent. The only risk is you’ll also want volume 2.
6. An interesting essay on Japanese aesthetics, In Praise of Shadows is recommended reading for night photographers.
7. Is your New Year’s resolution to get your photographs more organized? There is no better place to start than Peter Krogh’s DAM Book.
8. If you’re making money from photography, John Harrington’s business book is highly recommended.
9. Thinking about doing panoramas or 360 VR photography but not sure where to start? Harald Woeste’s book offers an excellent overview of the concepts, equipment, and post-processing techniques.
10. Who ever thought the pollution and destruction of the landscape could be so pretty?
11. Supermarket is a superbly designed, understated story of a road trip from the Bay Area to the Southern California Desert.
12. Brutal portraiture.

If you’re not the type of person who would normally spend $47 on a photography book, consider making an exception for the Expanded Edition of Looking In. Robert Frank traveled 10,000 miles through 30 states, shot 767 rolls of film, made 1000 work prints, and edited down to the 83 photos in what is one of the most important photography books ever made.

The essays, histories, and correspondence in the book are all superb. If you don’t own Frank’s original book, it’s worthwhile to note that Looking In contains all 83 images from The Americans. But here’s the real kicker:

• All 83 proof sheets for the selected images are reproduced in the Expanded Edition.

Whether you’ve meditated on the power of The Americans for decades, or have never even seen it, you couldn’t buy more learning about photography for $47 anywhere.

Photography book aficionados take note: the Expanded Edition also includes Frank’s preliminary sequencing, a look at variant crops in different editions, and additional letters by Frank, Walker Evans, and Jack Kerouac.

The Expanded Edition of Looking in has been in and out of stock at Amazon, which lists a 1-3 week turnaround time. My copy arrived in about 2 weeks with free shipping.

The Looking In exhibition celebrating the 50th anniversary of The Americans opens next month at SF MOMA, and runs from May 16  – August 23rd.

If you grew up playing soccer, Alan Black’s book Kick the Balls is a must read. A soccer fanatic from Scotland coaches a suburban Bay Area kids team with disastrous results. Laugh out loud funny. Here’s a short bit from the book about the author going to a yoga class that will give you a sample of the antics you’re in for when you read the book. The dublit.com site also has a great two-part interview with Alan Black.

In addition to writing one of the funniest sports book ever, Mr. Black is also a bartender at the Edinburgh Castle pub in San Francisco. Kick the Balls was my book club’s selection for the month, and we met at the Edinburgh to discuss the book and have a few pints. Alan Black showed up and I got to chat with him for a bit about soccer. His energy and sense of humor will really make you smile, whether in person, or on the page. Below is a photo to prove it. Thanks, Alan!