Polaroids occupy a special place in the hearts of many photo enthusiasts who remember a time when "instant photography" meant a one-of-a-kind prints that developed within minutes of clicking the shutter. What was once a crucial tool for photographers to test their shots before shooting on film has now become obsolete in the face of digital photography. Luckily for us, legendary photographer Helmut Newton saved his test Polaroids, allowing a privileged and rare chance to see the tests from a selection of his greatest shoots over a period of decades, including many from the TASCHEN titles SUMO, A Gun for Hire, and Work. Put together by his widow, June Newton, his collection captures the magic of Helmut Newton photo shoots as only Polaroids can.

Thomas Struth (born 1954) began his career making cityscapes, jungles and portraits. In the 1980s, after a meeting with psychoanalyst Inge Hartmann, he branched into portraiture. This book presents a selection of Struth's solo and group portraits from the 1990s.

Before she was a world-renowned singer/songwriter and bestowed with the title "The Godmother of Punk," Patti Smith was a struggling poet posing for the lens of photographer Judy Linn. In intimate portraits of an artist as a young woman, Linn captures Smith at her most vulnerable, as a raw performer on the verge of becoming an iconic artist. Linn's photographs offer a fascinating document of Smith's maturation into one of the most influential women of her generation while also spotlighting her close relationships with other artists including Robert Mapplethorpe and Sam Shepard. The book captures a moment lost in time, when a poet experimenting with music crossed paths with a young artist experimenting with photography. A must-have for anyone interested in the evolution of an artist, this collection showcases the collaboration bewteen Smith and Linn and rewrites what it means to be a woman and an artist.

美国当代著名摄影师格里高利·克鲁德逊 Gregory Crewdson作品《黄昏》 Twilight (1998-2002)，是他最知名的系列作品，得名于美国哥伦比亚电影公司从1959年至1965年发行的电视系列剧《迷离魔界》（The Twilight Zone），这个剧集汇集了种种都市传奇和诡异故事，以神秘主义和黑暗暴力风格表达人生寓言。"Twilight"这个词汇是指日落后天色变黑之前的短暂黄昏，也被称为"魔鬼时间"。此时有天光和路灯等人造光源的混杂照明和反射，使普通场景笼罩上特殊氛围。 Twilight拍摄于马萨诸塞州，Crewdson带领一个专业制作群体，进入一个小镇和居民们一起工作，电影式的场景，通过道具，置景，化装等手段实景拍摄。作品中处在日落时刻里的场面，由自然光和人工光源混合照明，背景中反复出现的家庭杂物，如肥皂盒、牛奶瓶、清洁剂容器等等，暗示出人们心理上的焦虑、恐惧和渴望。 近几年，Gregory Crewdson 几乎同时在世界上最有名的画廊举办个展，伦敦的 White Cube，洛杉矶的 Gagosian Gallery，纽约的Lurhing Agustine，德国古根海姆博物馆，美国马萨诸塞州的威廉斯学院美术馆在2006年曾策划了一个爱德华霍普（美国绘画大师）和克鲁德逊的双人展，将克鲁德逊的作品做了一个追根溯源的探究。20年的时间里，Gregory Crewdson创作了六组系列摄影，这些摄影作品受到了戴安娜·阿波滋（Diane Airbus），爱德华霍普（Edward Hopper），斯皮尔博格，大卫林奇等一些大导演的影响。在使用搭建模型和利用戏剧原则来进行创作的摄影流派中，Gregory Crewdson堪称先驱。艺术家通过混合传统的纪实摄影方式和虚构元素，使得摄影不再是被动观察和剪辑，而是主动地创造世界。本书包括40幅作品和部分工作照。

Since the advent of photography, certain cities have become inextricably intertwined with their depiction by great photographers: Eugene Atget in turn-of-the-century Paris; Berenice Abbott in 1930s New York; Ed Ruscha in late-60s Los Angeles. While Daido Moriyama documented the disaffection and dissipation of postwar Tokyo, Takashi Homma picks up the baton with a contemporary portrait of the modern-day metropolis that is both cinematic and complex. For over a decade, Homma has turned the neutral gaze of his lens toward Tokyo's suburban environs and urban center. As in all of his work, Homma's vision of Tokyo navigates a finely nuanced line between sterility and sentimentality, detachment and lusciousness, presenting a sleek, contemporary vision of a postmodern megalopolis populated by a new generation of video game aficionados and fashionistas. While Homma has published extensively inside his native Japan, this is his first volume published for an international audience. "Takashi Homma: Tokyo" compiles selections from each of the artist's six previously-published titles on the city, including "Tokyo Suburbia," his seminal work now considered a contemporary classic.

"How did you make this photograph?" This is the question that Ansel Adams was asked repeatedly during his lifetime. In this book, Adams shares the circumstances surrounding the making of many of his most celebrated photographs. Each of the 40 photographs are superbly reproduced in duotone, is accompanied by an entertaining and informative narrative that combines reminscence of people and places with precise recall of technical details and aesthetics considerations. The specific technical information on camera and lens, filters, exposure times, developing, and printing provided in each example illustrates his approach and methods and will assist amateur and professional photographers alike in learning the craft. Through this case study approach, Adams' philosophy of craft and creativity unfolds: his credos of visualisation, image management, and the Zone System are demonstrated: and the colour story of a lifetime devoted to photography is revealed.