BEHIND PHOTOGRAPHS by Tim Mantoani

[Jeff D. Welker]

For Christmas my sweetheart (not you Kaspar  ) presented me with a terrific photography book titled "BEHIND PHOTOGRAPHS - Archiving Photographic Legends" by Tim Mantoani. The book is a result of Mantoani's personal quest to document and preserve noted photographers together with their favorite images. Says Mantoani, “We have come to a point in history where we are losing both photographic recording mediums and iconic photographers. While many people are familiar with iconic photographs, the general public has no idea of who created them. This book became a means to do that, the photographer and their photograph in one image.” All images in the book were photographed with a 20x24 view camera using Polaroid film. After each photograph was taken and the Polaroid "peeled", the iconic photographer (i.e. subject) would write at the bottom of the Polaroid his or her thoughts about their favorite photograph - great insights.

This is a large hardbound book (11.3 x 14.2 inches, 208 pages & 5 pounds) with excellent printing and binding. You can get copies via Amazon in the $40 range, which is pleasantly less than the $60 listed price. More details can be found on Mr. Mantoani's website - http://behindphotographs.com

Be advised, this book has nothing to do with aviation photography. That being said, if you love photography, I believe you'll enjoy this book.

For example, here is one insight from the book that I found extremely interesting. Jeff Widener is the photographer that took the iconic image in 1989 of a lone man confronting a column of tanks in Tiananmen Square. He was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for this photograph. He was shooting from the 5th floor of the Beijiing Hotel after smuggling his camera gear past Chinese security. As he framed the line of tanks up perfectly with his 300mm lens, a man walked into the frame. Widener's first thought was, "Get out of my shot, you are going to ruin the composition." Apparently, he thought he was being photo-bombed 

[Joe Copalman]

That's pretty awesome.  The "Tank Man" photo is one of my favorite images of all time (along with Bill Anders' "Earthrise" shot from Apollo 8 and Dmitry Baltermants' shot of Russian soldiers charging during WWII with bayonets fixed), cool to get some context to it.

[Jeff D. Welker]

I thought it was a very cool insight myself.

Don't know if you've seen this or not, but since you mentioned the "Earthrise" image - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dE-vOscpiNc#t=11

[Jeff D. Welker]

An acquaintance and kind soul from another forum shared a link that gives much more insight and background to the famous "Tiananmen Square" imagery.

http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/06/03/behind-the-scenes-tank-man-of-tiananmen/