Szarkowski, John. Looking at Photographs by John Szarkowski. First edition hardcover.

Museum of Modern Art, 1973. Hardcover with protected dust jacket. 1st edition (not stated, later printings were indicated). A fine selection of photos with Szarkowski's insightful comments.  Photographers: Berenice Abbott; Ansel Adams; Robert Adamson; Manuel Alvarez Bravo; Richard Avedon; Diane Arbus; Eugene Atget; George N. Barnard; E.J. Bellocq; H.H. Bennett; Edouard Boubat; Margaret Bourke-White; Bill Brandt; Brassai; Harry Callahan; Julia Margaret Cameron; Robert Capa; Paul Caponigro; Cartier-Bresson; Alvin Langdon Coburn; Imogen Cunningham; Bruce Davidson; Roy DeCarava; Baron De Meyer; Robert Doisneau; Ken Domon; David Douglas Duncan; Harold Edgerton; Peter Henry Emerson; William england; Elliott Erwitt; Frederick H. Evans; Walker Evans; Arthur Fellig (Weegee); Robert Frank; Lee Friedlander; Alexander Gardner; William A. Garnett; Arnold Genthe; Mario Giacomelli; Gyula Halasz (Brassai); David Octavius Hill; Lewis Hine; William Henry Jackson; Frances Benjamin Johnston; Ken Josephson; Gertrude Kasebier; Andre Kertesz; William Klein; Josef Koudelka; George Krause; Dorothea Lange; Jacques Henri Lartigue; Clarence John Laughlin; Russell Lee; Helen Levitt; Man Ray; Ray Metzker; Joel Meyerowitz; Duane Michals; Lisette Model; Tina Modotti; Moholy-Nagy; Barbara Morgan; Wright Morris; Nickolas Muray; Eadweard Muybridge; Nadar; Arnold Newman; William Notman; Timothy O’Sullivan; Paul Outerbridge; Irving Penn; Jacob Riis; Alexander Rodchenko; Erich Salomon; August Sander; Naomi Savage; Ben Shahn; Charles Sheeler; William Shew; Aaron Siskind; W. Eugene Smith; Frederick Sommer; Edward Steichen; Ralph Steiner; Alfred Stieglitz; Paul Strand; John Thomson; Jerry Uelsmann; Roman Vishniac; Carleton Watkins; Henry Wessel, Jr.; Brett Weston; Edward Weston; Clarence White; Minor White; Garry Winogrand. Book fine and dust jacket VG+ with September 1973 dated gift inscription; a few very small edge tears and a very small chip on edge of dust jacket; price clipped from front flap of dust jacket; fading on spine as is commonly found on this dust jacket.  Summary:

Looking at Photographs: 100 Pictures from the Collection of The Museum of Modern Art (1973) is a seminal 216-page volume by John Szarkowski, the influential Director of the Department of Photography at MoMA. Designed as a practical masterclass in visual literacy, the book moves away from dense, sweeping histories of the medium. Instead, Szarkowski uses a simple, highly effective structure: 100 carefully selected photographs from MoMA's archive are presented chronologically, each accompanied by a single-page essay facing the image.

Key Content and Themes

• The Art of Close Reading: The core philosophy of the book is that photographs must be looked at deeply and individually to be understood. Szarkowski’s essays act as models for critical analysis, dissecting each image's formal composition, technical execution, and emotional resonance without relying on opaque academic jargon.

• A Chronological Survey of Masters: The 100 selected plates trace the evolution of photography from its mid-nineteenth-century origins through the early 1970s. It features a "who's who" of photographic history, including pioneers like Louis Daguerre and Julia Margaret Cameron, modernists like Alfred Stieglitz, Edward Weston, and Walker Evans, and contemporary masters of the era like Diane Arbus and Garry Winogrand.

• Form Meets Content: Szarkowski constantly highlights how a photographer’s technical choices—such as the frame’s edge, the vantage point, the quality of light, and the specific moment the shutter is clicked—transform ordinary subject matter into an independent work of art.

• The Demystification of Genius: Rather than treating great photographs as accidental strokes of luck or incomprehensible magic, the text demystifies the creative process. Szarkowski explains the specific problems each photographer was trying to solve, making the intentions behind complex artwork accessible to the general public.

Significance

Looking at Photographs remains one of the most celebrated and imitated books of photographic criticism ever published. By pairing a rigorous, formalist curatorial eye with elegant, witty prose, Szarkowski successfully taught a generation of readers how to stop merely glancing at pictures and actually begin looking at them, cementing the book's status as an indispensable text for students, artists, and lovers of photography worldwide.