Product Description

The fascinating history of a twentieth-century icon—the first handheld camera—and the people who use it.

The Leica is both a product of the twentieth century's inventive spirit and the means by which that spirit could be documented for posterity. As the first handheld camera, the Leica made possible a new kind of documentary photography, and included among its devoted fans are many of the century's greatest photographers. Its combined qualities of precision and compactness made it an essential tool for photographers everywhere, and today more than ever the Leica is prized by collectors.

Leica is a social history of the people behind the camera—its ingenious inventor, Oskar Barnack, and the great photographers who found it indispensable, including Rodchenko, Kertész, Cartier-Bresson, Capa, and many others. This completely new volume is richly illustrated with details that will satisfy even the most avid collector: diagrams, patent drawings, advertising posters, and biographies of some of its famous users. It belongs on the bookshelf of everyone who loves photography. 120 color illustrations and photographs.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #423823 in Books
• Published on: 2004-04
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 160 pages

From Publishers Weekly
With the development of the 35mm Leica camera in 1913-1914 by Oscar Barnack at the Ernest Lietz factory, in Wetzlar, Germany, photography became portable, a lens through which the rapid change of the 20th century could be observed and recorded on the fly. Used by the likes of American war correspondent Robert Capa, anti-Nazi sociologist Gisèle Freund and revolutionary photographer Henri-Cartier Bresson, the Leica also attracted Nazi sympathizer Paul Wolff, controversial Third Reich documentarian Leni Reifenstahl, and the German military. This 9½"×11¾" history of the Leica includes, among 120 color illustrations, a full-size color photograph, published in a 1944 issue of the German magazine Signal, of German soldiers riding on a tank's shadowy bulk past a burning house on the Eastern front. This is one of the most chilling photos in the book and one of the few full-size selections that is not a "best of" rendered slightly threadbare through over-reproduction. One page later, a strikingly undersized reproduction of a concentration camp is the only evidence of how, according to the text, the SS "photographed in great detail [using the Leica] the inhuman barbarities committed in the concentration camps throughout Europe"-a questionable juxtaposition at best. The text, by Italian journalist Pasi, is stilted to the point that it is often difficult to follow the history of the Leica's evolution or the significance of its innovations; however, there is enough technical information, with enlarged photos of each model and explanatory notes on lenses, viewfinders, range finders, film speeds and shutter-release buttons, to satisfy professionals and devotees. While the selection of smaller photographs is extensive and varied, the unpredictable sizings and intrusion into large photographs by small photographs and information boxes often detract from the photographs' impact.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

About the Author
Alessandro Pasi is a journalist and the author of Beetle Mania, Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bug. He lives in Italy.

Customer Reviews

Nice photos of Leicas but nothing new
Not a very detailed book but a nice overview of Leica's history, with excellent photos of some beautiful classic cameras. But probably not worth the price.

Leiconians! A book for a rainy afternoon...
I first saw this book in a Cambridge, UK library. I fell in love at first sight with it. The images it contain reflect all of our 20th century history through the view provided by the magnificent Leica lenses and shutters. The quality of the book is very good in terms of content and materials. The book contains a two page geneological tree of the Leica family at the end of it, so one can consume hours deepening into the Leica relatives and the evolution of a once in a lifetime photographic equipment experience.

Leica in DK format - Fun and Inspiring
This is a fun book for the Leica enthusiast. Unlike many of the Leica books I have seen this one is comprehensive in covering not only the cameras but the company and some of the famouse photos taken with a Leica. A good balance of text, photos, diagrams and history. A contemporay layout in graphic design makes this my favorite Leica book for an evening peruse.