Internationally renowned photographer Bill Diodato started collecting photobooks in 1990 as a way to educate himself about the aesthetics of photography, and soon found himself building a comprehensive library dedicated to 20th-century photo literature. 

Below is a selection of photobook highlights from The Library of Bill Diodato, at auction February 27, 2014. Also offered on February 27 are select fine art photographs from Diodato's collection, including works by Bernd & Hilla Becher, Sally Mann, Irving Penn and Aaron Siskind. A separate section of the auction is dedicated to Fine Photographs from other collections.

For Diodato's insights into collecting, watch this video, in which he shares how he began collecting photographic literature, which artists were his greatest inspiration and how he came to own some of his most prized books.

 

Bernd & Hilla Becher: Fördertürme, 1997; Typologien Typologies, 1999; Fachwerkhäuser das Siegener Industriegebietes, 1977 and Festschrift Erasmuspreis 2002, first editions. Sold for $2,125.

 

Brassaï, Paris de Nuit, first edition, Paris, 1933. Sold for $6,000.

 

Duane Michals: Take One and See Mt. Fujiyama, 1976; Homage to Cavafy, signed, 1978; The Portraits of Duane Michals 1958-1988, album, signed by Jack Woody, 1988; Eros & Thanatos, signed, 1992; Salute, Walt Whitman, signed by Michals and Jack Woody, 1996 and Questions Without Answers, 2001. Sold for $2,000.

 

Eikoh Hosoe, Kamaitachi, first edition, signed, Tokyo, 1969. Sold for $3,750.

 

Group of seven first editions by Irving Penn, all signed: Worlds in a Small Room, 1974; Irving Penn regards the work of Issey Miyake, 1999; Astronomers Plan a Voyage to Earth, 1999; Drawings, 1999; Still LIfe, 2001; Dancer, 2001; A Notebook at Random, 2004. Sold for $3,750.

 

Martin Parr, Martin Parr, London, 2002, with Pink Pig Cakes, c-print, 1995-99, printed 2002. Sold for $500.

 

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This is an archived page. For further information on the auction or the books seen here, contact Swann's Photographs & Photobooks Department.