Some Los Angeles Apartments, by Ed Ruscha

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Why?

“I've always been a huge Ed Ruscha fan and have been a fan of his 16mm films. It goes back to the thing that inspires me: the super mundane. He got me back into motion picture film, which I grew up making as a kid. This book is kind of an anthology. The original Los Angeles Apartments came out in the 60s maybe. And then this book is kind of about that book and also contains his book on gas stations.

So in some cases you'll see the picture of the thing which he was inspired by. There's a famous standard gas station painting, and you'll see the photograph that he took as the template for that as the study. Growing up in Los Angeles, this book also has apartments that I recognize, that's another reason that it's really neat to me.”
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- Adam Goldberg, Photographer

Emmet Gowin, by Emmet Gowin

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Why?

“He's got a long career, and he's known for these really intimate portraits of his family. It's a beautiful book, and there's a lot to read about him in the beginning. So much of his work is arguably this mundane stuff around the house, but it's fantastical looking. What he manages to do at home is so profound and so deeply moving. Some of it is very posed; some of it isn't. There's a lot of nudity. And it's extremely earthy. It's her and the earth, and babies and the earth, and her pregnant. 

At the end of the day, there's just nothing that's much more effecting than seeing your family, and your wife, and your wife grown older, and your wife in these intimate moments. There's a picture of her peeing standing up, which is this brilliant shot. Her legs are a V. There are these great lines in the barn where she's peeing that are parallel to her legs. Shafts of light bursting through. It's really profound stuff. And again, it really walks that line between incredibly stylized and a snapshot.”
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- Adam Goldberg, Photographer

Chromes, by William Eggleston

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Why?

“I've always been intrigued by how Eggleston walks this line between documentary photography and art photography. I’m looking at one particular photograph right now through the windshield of a guy washing his windows and the 76 sign in the distance. The photo is bifurcated by that. That thing on your windshield, the sort of shade, gradation of your windshield— it's just so remarkable. It's so stunning. It's essentially a snapshot. My focus is on the mundane, or that the mundane is intimate. There's this feeling of it being spontaneous, but also being very painterly.”
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- Adam Goldberg, Photographer

Recent Histories: Contemporary African Photography and Video Art from the Walther Collection, by Daniela Baumann

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Why?

“I love the contemporary nature of the book and that these are African Photographers in such a reputable collection. The perspectives are great and act as inspiration and an amazing resource for other African photographers especially in a climate where the medium is often unappreciated within the continent. Some of the writers and photographers featured in the book I know personally/have worked with in the past.”
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- Adenrele Sonariwo, Curator

Fragile Legacies: The Photographs of Solomon Osagie Alonge, by Amy Staples

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Why?

“The work I do every day involves introducing newer audiences to appreciate art from Nigeria. One cannot speak about the Nigerian artistic landscape without speaking about the historic Benin Kingdom. The book is a great compendium for reference which I often recommend to younger photographers I work with.”
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- Adenrele Sonariwo, Curator

J.D. ‘Okhai Ojeikere: Photographs , edited by Bisi Silva

in

Why?

“First, the historical nature of the book is great for research and reference. As a young woman who has a complex relationship with my hair, I find the hairstyle images in the book fascinating and reminiscent of my childhood. It’s magical, it’s familiar, and unfamiliar at the same time. Great use of colors.”
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- Adenrele Sonariwo, Curator

Untold: Stories Behind the Photographs, by Steven McCurry

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Why?

“What I loved most about the work of Steven is the humanity he captures in all of his subjects, along with the stories he shares about his journey. His work inspired me to want to travel the world and document various cultures and communities. This book now serves as a guide for my next book endeavor.”
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- Jamel Shabazz, Photographer

Cyclops, by Albert Watson

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Why?

“It's kind of a collection of his portraiture and advertising. And I was lucky to meet him. What I liked about this photo book is the diversity. It’s beautiful still life, beautiful portraiture, and I have a few books of his. I think one of the things that's always been most important to me is composition. Composition is changing because of the cell phone. There’s more freedom to it because most of the people doing it aren't formally trained in photography.”
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- Robert Clark, Photographer

Philip-Lorca DiCorcia: Hustlers, by Philip-Lorca DiCorcia

in

Why?

“What inspired me was that he really connected with each of the subjects. It was very interesting to see these everyday people kind of submerged into this fantasy within his photos with lighting and with the framing. I really like the way that he colored his images and the ranges of the color. There’s honesty shown within these people. I try to put a lot in my work as well. It makes me feel like a fly on the wall, peering into these peoples' lives, into their every day or where they're stationed at.”
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- Micaiah Carter, Photographer

A Time Before Crack, by Jamal Shabazz

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Why?

“I love the way that he captures people, and especially New York City. It's important within the black community to see these photographs of people. It reminds me of my dad's archival work, too. Capturing people in the ‘80s and the late ‘70s is historical—that was the biggest thing, having a pinpoint for these people to live in history. That stood out to me the most. But I can also see that he takes time in his framing and I like seeing that initiative to frame up these subjects where he only has a few moments to shoot the photo of these people.”
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- Micaiah Carter, Photographer

The Kitchen Table Series, by Carrie Mae Weems

in

Why?

“I love the subject matter and the simplicity of it—how she can have everything on the kitchen table series but then go through so many scenarios that go on. I love the simplicity that she held onto when she was going through each of these scenes for the book. I felt a familiar face. I felt connected. I felt that there was something that I could relate to.”
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- Micaiah Carter, Photographer

“If I could only have one photo book, Kitchen Table Series is probably the one I would choose. I think what makes it so special to me is that I almost see moments of my own life and memories within the pages, or if not my life, a life that I can understand and relate to in some way. The simplicity and honestly inspires me.”
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- Ronan Mckenzie, Photographer

Photographs 1931-1955, by George Platt Lynes

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Why?

“This book was very important to me because it already had an existing gay photo history, even though nobody talked about it. It was there. It gave me some confidence to make new stuff, and not feel like I was the only one. I feel like we all got too defined by sex and that's not what's interesting anyway. It's the other things that are worth investigating and having a discussion about—the relationships that people have with each other and their family. This photo book is the one that has stayed with me, and I've borrowed his aesthetics quite heavily.”
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- Sunil Gupta, Photographer

Ba Ra Kei: Ordeal by Roses, by Eikoh Hosoe

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Why?

“This is a book about Yukio Mishima, the writer. I was aware of Mishima’s work, and who he was, and that whole melodramatic way in which he committed suicide. I thought this book was a great departure from the stuff we talked about so far, in the sense that it was not a social documentary. It was more about his lifestyle, or aesthetics, or the kind of homo-, quasi-, fascistic ideals that he had. It's visually lush. It’s a kind of ‘60s Japanese black-and-white, contrasting photography. It's very theatrical. It's not like the other things that I talked about.

This book opened up a little door that  possible to have gay content and it was possible to come from outside of the West. That combination of gay and Asian, it rang a bell with me. It made me think something like this was possible. In my education, I'd never been shown anything like this. I had a very classical kind of education.”
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- Sunil Gupta, Photographer