“His subtle, understated, unforgettable masterpiece deserves to join Susan Sontag’s On Photography on our bookshelves.” Iain Gale, Scotland on Sunday
“Truly original… A whole narrative of intensely felt and observed moments… After reading it, life seems larger.” John Berger, Harper’s Magazine
Focusing on the ways in which canonical figures like Alfred Stieglitz, Paul Strand, Walker Evans, Andre Kertesz, Edward Weston, Dorothea Lange, Diane Arbus and William Eggleston have photographed the same things – barbershops, benches, hands, roads, signs – Geoff Dyer seeks to identify their signature styles. In doing so, he constructs a narrative in which these photographers – many of whom never met – constantly encounter one another.
“The Ongoing Moment is a masterful meditation on photographs, but what makes it particularly valuable is the way it shows how Dyer has mastered the art of the essay, understood as a piece of discursive, personal writing, in which great, often melancholy themes are raised with lightness and very dry humour.” Alain de Botton, Books of the Year, Observer
“One of the most graceful ruminations on photography ever… From beginning to end, Dyer’s tour de force is as inspirational as it is accessible.” Sunday Telegraph
“An ingenious journey through the history of photography.” Art Review
First published: UK, Little Brown, 2005; US, Pantheon, 2005
Winner of the ICP Infinity Award for Writing on Photography.
Current paperback editions: UK, Canongate; US, Vintage
In the press:
The Telegraph The Guardian The Independent The Independent on Sunday The New York Time The New Yorker Financial Times Frieze Brooklyn Rail Harpers