Reader’s Diary

Richard Benson

“The Printed Picture” is a survey by a master printer of how man has reproduced images.  Benson writes about everything  from cave drawings to inkjets.  It’s a fascinating, personal, and sometimes engagingly crotchety (for example, he refers to the term “giclee” as “deeply stupid”) book.  The illustrations – from Benson’s own collection -  are seldom famous but are usually interesting.  They range from woodblocks to etchings to money to a vast variety of photographic techniques and on to digital.  This is a must-read for anyone interested in photography or printing