As I See It

John Loengard, one of the great Life magazine photographers, sums up his fifty-year career in this volume. His subjects include movie stars, writers, politicians, artists, and other photographers, as well as normal people engaged in a host of extraordinary activities - or, rather, typical activities rendered unforgettable and compelling by the photographer's vision. From a shimmering Marilyn Monroe to a groundskeeper brooming leaves in Dublin, from a guffawing Ronald Reagan to Henri Cartier-Bresson flying a kite, from a poet's nose to picnickers in Central Park, Loengard's vision moves us with its humanity and artistry.
Loengard enlarges our understanding and deepens our appreciation of his photography with insightful commentaries on each of the pictures reproduced in the book. (Who knew that the term silhouette was the name of Louis XV's budget-conscious finance minister?) Just as each photograph is the product of Loengard's vision, these vivid texts give us a glimpse of the mind behind the photographer's eye.