Black and White Photography: Manifest Visions / An International Collection by James Luciana.

Quarry/Rockford, 2000. First edition, first printing, hardcover, fine with protected dust jacket. Like new 144 pages. “ In these pages you will find powerful examples of work from 104 photographers, including striking images of the figure, landscapes, still life, portraits, and explorations of mythic and symbolic themes.”  Photographers include Linda Connor; Donald Lokuta; Steve Anchell; Debbie Fleming Caffery; Paul Caponigro; Ellen Carey; Carl Chiarenza; Albert Chong; William Clift; Barbara Crane; Sandi Fellman; Peter Goin; Siegried Halus; Graciela Iturbide; Richard Margolis; Arno Minkkinen; Olivia Parker (see sample below); Lilo Raymond; Ernestine Ruben; J. Seeley; Harvey Stein; Jim Stone; Jerry Uelsmann; Sam Wang: James Luciana, and many others. Summary: 

Black and White Photography: Manifest Visions (Rockport, 2000) is a curated anthology that celebrates the expressive power and artistic range of black-and-white photography from around the world. Rather than being a technical manual, the book gathers powerful and diverse photographic work that demonstrates how the black-and-white medium continues to inspire strong visual visions across genres and styles.

The collection spans work by well over 100 international photographers and is arranged to showcase a wide variety of approaches and themes. It includes striking examples of portraiture, landscape, still life, figure studies, and symbolic or mythic imagery, revealing how each artist uses tone, contrast, composition, and gesture to create compelling images. Through these selections, the book illustrates that black-and-white photography can move far beyond mere documentation into realms of emotion, metaphor, and personal interpretation.

On the book jacket, Luciana explains that what began as a survey of conventional topics—landscape, still life, portraits—becomes something richer: a window into different artistic visions of the world. The images act as markers of creative perception, offering glimpses into the nature of each photographer’s expressive intentions.

Organized around key themes of visual perception—such as illusion, memory, light and shadow, and new realities—the book aims to broaden readers’ appreciation of black-and-white photography as a global, imaginative art form, not just a historical or technical category. The volume thus serves both as a visual resource and a source of inspiration for photographers, students, and lovers of photographic art.