Ernst Haas in Black and White

book was advertised well

A book to have on your table, to open the more you can. Indeed truly inspiring and amazing work by master photographer Ernst Haas. each pic tells a story... highly recommandable

In our modern world of digital photography it's easy to think of photos as an easy, quick thing that any person can do. But just a few decades ago photography was about careful composition, knowledge of f-stop and aperture, and knowing the exact moment to click. With film, every press was precious and final.Ernst Hass endured countless hardships as an Austrian boy coming of age under the thumb of the Nazis. To read the tales of what he and his community went through is heartbreaking. It's only after enduring all of that that he turned to photography as an escape, release, and a way to start anew.After the biography come the full-sized photos. Where other books cram multiple photos into a single page or run a photo across the page-break, losing part of the image, this book nicely allows each photo to be on its own page and stand alone. The printing quality is excellent. You can stare at and immerse yourself in a photo, falling into its world. There are photos of Europe and New York City, of bullfights and veterans and everyone in between.I drop a star because, for some odd reason, the book chose to put all photo information at the very end. That means you turn a page, look at a photo, then have to turn to the end to see what the photo is of. Turn another page, look at a photo, go back to the end to see what it's showing. It makes absolutely no sense to me. Why not put the title on the page itself? Someone who doesn't want to know doesn't have to look at that - but for 90% of the viewing audience we do care what the photo is showing.With that minor quibble, a great collection of powerful photos.

It's OK. Haas was renowned for his colour work which is remarkable but whilst the BW offerings are OK, they're nowt to write home about.