What's your photography diet?

elven

That may sound a little strange... what I mean is, what images to you come into contact with on a daily/weekly basis, and do you make an effort to seek out good quality photography?

We are surrounded by slick, commercialised mass media photography all the time. Even in photography forums and flickr we would see a huge amount of highly saturated, contrasty, eye candy material. Do you go out of your way to dose up on something substantial on a particular blog or site, do you buy different magazines, or have a stock of books by favourite photographers? how open are you to finding out about new photographers, and do you seek them out, or rely on a blog or recommendation?

I've recently found that I've started to notice good quality photography outside the realm of actual photography literature - like the new Jamie Oliver book - aw it's just gorgeous! Or the fashion photography in i-D magazine (thanks Fajitas )... I started to wonder where else we might see it, if we opened our eyes just a bit more?

Just something I started to wonder about last night...

helios

I tend to look back on a time when photography wasn't a mass media, and when photographers didn't have the luxury of shooting dozens of shots and then sorting the good from the bad. I have a healthy appetite for tastful photos from the 30's and 40's, when photos were telling an important story... There's a good book about photos that changed the world, which has loads of good ones. I don't specifically try to mimic the style, but it does give me a good view of how different styles do different things...

gerky

I find myself when looking at animal and plant identification books I really appreciate the quality and skill involved in them.

311

Thinking about what your saying ,the kind of photography I like in this regards is architectural photography.

It's not exciting or anything ,but I appreciate how buildings are designed these days to accomidate light. The different shades etc and how they make people feel on a day to day basis.

magicbastarder

bar here, creativeireland, and one or two other fora i visit, i don't really seek out photography that much.

CraggyIslander

I've pretty much tuned myself out from the bombardment of advertising etc, although usually do glance at them briefly. If any of them catch my attention it is usually for all the wrong reasons.......

Occassionally pick up a magazine, but usually a different one each time..... I'm definately not a photo-junkie Books (including some on photography ) on the other hand

missingtime

Anything that is in The Sunday Times Magazine.

In cork, I'm always in Vibes and Scribes (by the quay) in the photography section - really relaxes me.

Carrigman

There is a Taschen book - "20th Century Photography" - which is excellent and can be picked up for a few quid at any good remaindered bookshop (e.g. Vibes and Scribes in Cork). I dip into it regularly.

"Vanity Fair" magazine - excellent articles and photos. Curiously, it is always placed in the womens' magazines section in newsagents but it is in fact a general interest magazine with excellent writers and photographers (Annie Leibowitz for instance).

"National Geographic" for outstanding photography in every issue.

templeathea

As was said, Sunday Times Magazine is great. I look at Art books a fair bit rather than photography books.

ThOnda

National Geographic, VII Photo Sunday Times if I find it somewhere and my regular search for photographers on the net.
And virtual galleries of painters, mostly impressionists.
Not to mention links here :-)

Xios

A warzone for breakfast, some sports for lunch and to unwind, a fashion show for dinner. Then some cornflakes for supper.

Calina

I've a couple of flickr and pix.ie rss feeds set up. On occasion, both the Guardian and BBC sites have photo of the day type streams, or a special photo essay on something (for the Guardian lately it was Saint Pancras station).

NatGeog has been coming into my life and so does KiteWorld and a couple of the surf magazines. Other than that, the occasional ad in a glossy at the doctors.

nilhg

Every thing and anything from the Farmers Journal to Sky and Telescope. I've a large extended family all living close by and the different magazines tend to do the rounds.

I tend too go through phases with looking at photos from the web, something will catch my eye and that will be flavour of the week until something else comes along, currently its James Ravilious
, I saw a programme about him on the beeb the other evening and it blew me away.