Product Description

In his last book, YOGA FOR PEOPLE WHO CAN'T BE BOTHERED TO DO IT, Geoff Dyer confessed that not only did he not take pictures in the course of his travels but that he did not own a camera. With characteristic perversity - and trademark originality - THE ONGOING MOMENT is Dyer's unique and idiosyncratic history of photography. Seeking to identify their signature styles Dyer looks at the ways that canonical figures such as Alfred Stieglitz, Paul Strand, Walker Evans, Kertesz, Dorothea Lange, Diane Arbus and William Eggleston have photographed the same scenes and objects (benches, hats, hands, roads). In doing so Dyer constructs a narrative in which those photographers - many of whom never met in their lives - constantly come into contact with each other. Great photographs change the way we see the world; THE ONGOING MOMENT changes the way we look at both. It is the most ambitious example to date of a form of writing that Dyer has made his own: the non-fiction work of art.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #20702 in Books
• Published on: 2007-07-12
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 304 pages

Review
** 'Engaging' THE SPECTATOR ** 'Dyer at his absolute best' DAILY TELEGRAPH ** 'One of the most graceful ruminations on photography ever ... Dyer's tour de force is as inspirational as it is accessible' SUNDAY TELEGRAPH ** 'Dyer is a master of the close-up, a hawk-eyed spotter of small coincidences' INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY ** 'Dyer's subtle, understated, unforgettable masterpiece deserves to join Susan Sontag's On Photography on our bookshelves' SCOTLAND ON SUNDAY

Boyd Tonkin, Independent
'Enjoy a witty, incisive lesson in how to rescue cultural criticism from shuttered academia'

Sunday Telegraph
'Contains intriguing insights and his elegant prose is a pleasure'

Customer Reviews

life through a lens
I knew next to nothing about American photography before I started this but wanted to know, and see, a lot more of it by the end. The book's full of philosophy, language, sex, ego and rivalry - there are some great characters and stories!- , as well as photographed fences, hats, backs, nude lovers, petrol pumps, drive-ins, roads etc etc. It's pretty lateral in its wanderings (and wonderings), surprisingly academic in parts, and insistently interesting throughout.

For Love of Photography.
This isn't a book just for photographers. It's basically about enthusiasm and a writers excitement in photography. This enthusiasm is infectious and makes the book a real page-turner, which should inspire people to look differently at photographs. This is a partial study of photography, mostly 20th century American, it's Dyers personal journey through photography not a history or textbook. It should however be required reading on A Level Photography, just as "Way of Seeing" by Berger was on Art courses. I'd recommend this as a perfect Xmas present.
The only minus points are the reproductions and the lack of them. 93 photos are illustrated in the book, but mostly small and some missing due to over zealous copyright control (Robert Frank for instance, is very strict with others using his images. His exclusion from "Bystander: A History of Street Photography" was very noticeable and seems rather prissy. Frank does have a couple of photos in Dyers book. Frank has recently had definitive books published by Steidl). The American "Vintage" publication I presume deals with the images better due to it's larger size. I'd buy a reprint with proper reproductions for £30 (hint to publishers).

Photography for those who can be bothered to do it
To inspire me to again pick up my camera and to look at my own photographic output, I can't but not love this book.

Is there a subject Geoff can't write beautifully about?

My first five stars for a anything this year!