When Freddy Langer studied with Beaumont Newhall at the University of New Mexico, Newhall’s book The History of Photography had already gone through numerous editions and been translated into many languages. Yet even at that time, it still defined the canon of the medium. The question of how it might be brought up to date and extended into the present has occupied Freddy Langer ever since, as a journalist and critic. Over the past forty years, he has reviewed a good thousand or so photography books and exhibitions—often driven by the enthusiasm of the moment, and at times with excessive skepticism.

Now, drawing on this wealth of material and with the benefit of years and decades of hindsight, he has selected reviews of the 150 books that he believes have stood the test of time. They include classics by Diane Arbus and Robert Frank through to Lewis Baltz and Gilles Peress, each of whom he examines in depth. Yet he also repeatedly ventures onto less certain ground with a selection of young talents who have received little attention. At the same time, the collection of his writings reflects the development of the photobook market—and, with it, the changing way we look at the world.