vancouver fashion and portrait photography

This post was prompted by my little shopping excursion down 4th ave. in Vancouver yesterday. It was quite ridiculous to see the amount of people rushing about obviously searching for Christmas presents. (I'm happy to report I'm done my shopping! oh yeah!!)

I passed Duthie Books and saw it crowded with people which made me very happy. I use to frequent Duthie all the time when I lived in that neighbourhood and at best there would be 4 or 5 people mingling through, but in this holiday season people were doing some serious shopping for books.

One of the things I love to get as a gift is coffee table books. I like having new things for my guests to flip through when they visit my home and I do the same at other people's places. This made me think, what better christmas gift to get someone than a book of great photography! So if you're looking for some last minute gifts for people, here are some of my faves as well as some of the best books of the year as suggested by American Photo Mag. And take note, it's not only photographer geeks who appreciate these books, the photos cover everything from musicians, to nature, to family life....you name it! There's likely a good photo coffee table book out there for everyone.

A few of my faves:

American Music by Annie Leibovitz
In this book Leibovitz followed " a desire to return to my original subject and look at it with a mature eye." Leibovitz career started as a photographer for Rolling Stone Magazine and she did an amazing job of covering nearly a centruy of musical creativity. It includes everyone from Iggy Pop and Willie Nelson to Norah Jones and Will Smith plus so many more.

New York Vertical by Horst Hamann
This beautiful (and truly vertical at 19 inches high and 9 inches wide) book captures NYC in a way that is has never been captured before. The original images are also accompanied by quotations from some of the city's most ardent and well-known fans. One of the best quotes in the book is by a fantastic American writer, John Updike who says, "The true New Yorker secretly believes that people living anywhere else have to be, in some sense, kidding.

This book has been on my shelf and a favourite of many of my guests since I visited Manhattan 2 years ago.

American Photo Mag picks for the year:

As I See it by John Loengard
This book collects his own work, most notably is perceptive portraiture of the famous people of our time.

Woman in the Mirror by Richard Avedon
In this book we see Avedon's gaze boring into the glamour and feminine power that fascinated him.

Family compiled by Sophie Spencer-Wood
An enigmatic collection of family portraits by well-known photographers, this book demonstrates the power of the ties that bind, as well as the many moods of intimacy.

You can browse American Photo Mag for about 20 more recommendations - most of which would look fabulous on any coffee table!