Kiosk: a History of Photojournalism

Von Dewitz, director of the Agfa Foto-Historama of Museum Ludwig Cologne, and Lebeck, a longtime photojournalist and collector, focus here on the history of photojournalism in illustrated news magazines. This book consists mainly of reproductions of news reports with very concise, chronological essays printed in parallel German and English text. Most of this work deals with 20th-century press photography up to 1973, with considerable attention to war pictures; but there are also chapters on 19th-century photo-reproduction techniques, including woodcut and early halftone processes. Kiosk is unique because it includes many important examples from popular German serials such as Berliner Illustrierte Zeitung and Die Woche. While the choices of illustrations are generally successful enough to minimize the need for lengthy essays, the reader may want to search for more historical background on the magazines included. It should be noted that German is the primary language of this book and that the bibliography and a section including biographical sketches of photographers are provided only in German. Thus, this is recommended for academic libraries and specialized art collections.