Fine art photographer and photo educator Gary Samson gave us a list of his top six books every photographer should read. 

The History of Photography by Beaumont Newhall

A concise history of the medium, if you can only afford one book, get a later addition of this book for a good overview of the major figures and movements in photography.

A World History of Photography by Naomi Rosenblum

A comprehensive deep dive into the history of the medium, exhaustive in content, it should be on every photographer’s bookshelf.

On Photography by Susan Sontag

On Photography considers the relation of photography to art, conscience, and knowledge. A seminal book on the medium.

Beauty in Photography: Essays in Defense of Traditional Values by Robert Adams

How is photography art? Of what importance is it to society? By what standards are we to judge the success or failure of a photograph? Robert Adams reflections are delicate, unusually calm, but they also carry the force of sure conviction, the passion of absolute dedication.

Why People Photograph by Robert Adams

Adams’ writing is free of academic jargon. Readers will also appreciate his attention to the common experience (he talks about trying to earn an income), his enjoyment the unorthodox (one essay concerns dogs and photography), and above all his conviction that art matters. Photographers “may or may not make a living by photography,” he writes “but they are alive by it.”

Photography Speaks: 150 Photographers on Their Art by John Szarkowski

“A very valuable introduction to the achievements and the intentions of an exemplary selection of photographers.” Some of the texts will come as a surprise even to specialists. - John Szarkowski