Academie Française, Paris (man on ladder reading). 1929
For 50 years photographer Andre Kertész took pictures of people reading. His seminal book On Reading presents a series of these photographs taken by Kertész in Hungary, France, and the United States. It was first published in 1971, in New York, by Grossman Publishers and has recently been reissued by W.W. Norton.
New York (boy eating icecream on pile of newspapers), October 12, 1944
On Reading captures “readers in every conceivable place—on rooftops, in public parks, on crowded streets, waiting in the wings of the school play—are caught in a deeply personal, yet universal, moment. Kertész’s images celebrate the absorptive power and pleasure of this solitary activity and speak to readers everywhere.”
A traveling exhibition featuring over 100 works has been Organized by the Museum of Contemporary Photography at Columbia College in Chicago and will tour from the Fall of 2008 through 2011. If interested in hosting the exhibit during its tour click here.
Here is an online gallery of select images.
Previously on Book Patrol
Books in Pictures
Thanks to Paper Cuts for the lead
Images © Estate of André Kertész/Higher Pictures 2007