My favorite photo auction—the Leitz Photographica Auction—just dropped its online catalog and there are too many extraordinary images not to share. Photos: Elliott Erwitt, Ernst Haas, & Will McBride The auction: October 30 at 12:30pm EST. Link to the catalog: www.leitz-auction.com/en/Photograp...

I interviewed the great photographer Ragnar Axelsson, whose work I have been following for the last 20 years. The story appears on a just-launched, supremely ambitious, really cool site called The Photographic Index, and you can read it here: thephotographicindex.com/blog/the-man...

Today on my IG feed, a few outstanding photographers whose work you might not have seen. Here, a small sample: Alex Harris, Anne Rearick, John Simmons. See the rest on @billshapiro

I got a sneak peek at the photos you’ll be seeing at the upcoming Leitz Photographica Auction on October 30. A few more highlights here: www.leitz-auction.com/en/Photograp... Photos by: Inge Morath Karin Szekessy Berenice Abbott @leitz_photographica_auction @leica_camera

Today on BluePhoto.co, Jimmy Page and his buddy Jack Daniels in 1975. Picture by Neal Preston.

SOME NEWS. I’ve got a new project. It’s called BluePhoto.co. We all know how unstable the photo world has become—galleries closing, Instagram chaos, the A.I. shitstorm, etc.—so we created the BluePhoto Collective, a site that values true photographic talent and honest-to-God curation.

I was recently interviewed by @eyeshot_magazine about my years at LIFE, how I look at pictures, some of the common missteps I see, and a ton more. (They asked fantastic questions!) Take a look: m.youtube.com/watch?v=rmhY...

Today on my IG feed (@billshapiro), Russian photographer Nikolay Bakharev’s new book, “Cheryomushki,” from @stanleybarker.bsky.social

Watch.

This is real.

The great Sly Stone has died. He was 82. (Photo by Jim Marshall)

Photographer Alex Harris and I traveled through New Mexico to learn about the future of the state’s oldest and newest crops: chile peppers and cannabis. Our story for @newmexicomag is here: www.newmexicomagazine.org/blog/post/ne...

When my old friend Jonathan Gluck was diagnosed with cancer, he was given 18 months to live. That was 20 years ago. His book, "An Exercise in Uncertainty," is wise, moving, thoughtful, & funny. It's about living with the unpredictable—something we all do. Order here: bookshop.org/p/books/an-e...

60 years ago today—on May 25, 1965—Neil Leifer made what is widely considered to be among the greatest sports photos of all time. One notable person doesn't agree: Neil Leifer. I spoke with Neil for the @nytimes.com ; below, more of Leifer's photos from that classic night

The celebrated Brazilian photographer Sebastião Salgado has died at 81. A huge loss & incredibly sad news. I was recently in CDMX and stumbled into a massive exhibition of his work at the Museum of Anthropology. Hundreds of people were looking, pausing, breathing in Salgado’s remarkable pictures.

Happy to announce that “Paris: A Love Story 1948-1952,” a photo book about the overlooked photographer Todd Webb, is available for pre-order. I edited the book, and poring over Webb’s stunning images was an honest joy. Here’s the link if you want to check it out: www.damianibooks.com/en/products/...

Podcast Alert: What makes a great landscape photo? What doesn’t? @unofphoto.bsky.social & I discuss, with insights from @kityoung135.bsky.social (the gorgeous black-and-white), Alex Harris (red car), and Geraint Smith (Rio Grande Gorge). Listen here: unitednationsofphotography.com/2025/05/07/p...

Saigon fell 50 years ago. These photos by the legendary Larry Burrows, who was killed in Laos while on assignment for LIFE.

Can rolling papers survive a world trending toward edibles? How many joints does Seth Rogen roll in a week? What does the inside of the Zig-Zag factory look like? I reveal all, right here:

A few sweeping, magical, big-sky photos from the hyper-creative Jim Krantz. More images (and backstory) on my IG feed: @billshapiro

The great photographer Larry Fink has a new book out. “Hands On” is big & beautiful (424 pages) and filled with never-before-published photos. Published by @phbookstores.bsky.social. Use the code LarryFink, you’ll save 10 percent. More on my IG feed. powerhouse-books.square.site/product/larr...

Podcast Alert for Photo Folks: The powers and perils of saying “no.” In which @unofphoto.bsky.social & and I discuss the ethical and practical concerns. Listen here: unitednationsofphotography.com/2025/04/02/p...

Lora Webb Nichols made photos in a tiny, turn of the century Wyoming town. A new book called “Heap O’ Livin’” can be preordered now here: www.lorawebbnichols.org/lwn-shop/pre...

Good.

What’s inside your rolling paper? To find out, I spoke to Seth Rogen, visited the original Zig-Zag factory in France, and met the man who knows more about rolling paper than anyone the planet. Story in Esquire: www.esquire.com/lifestyle/a6...

The incredible photographs of Pavlos Kozalidis. More on my IG feed.

Hauntingly beautiful photos by Anya Goodman. More on my IG feed: @billshapiro

Herbie Greene, who died last week at the age of 82, made so many terrific pictures of the San Francisco music scene in the ‘60s. This is one of my favorites.

Love this photo by Laura Kleinhenz (aka @docuvitae on IG)

Podcast Alert: Photographers & Social Media… in which @unofphoto and I talk about the good, the bad, and the awful. (With insights from @fotoapp.co) Listen here: unitednationsofphotography.com/2025/03/05/p... Photo by Andreas Feininger

Cool vintage cameras photographed by Victor Landweber now at the Joseph Bellows Gallery www.josephbellows.com/exhibitions/...

Make America Sick Again

Carol Guzy’s photos from Ukraine’s war of self-defense are incredible and incredibly intense. Find the four-time Pulitzer Prize-winner on IG—and do not turn away.

That time Marilyn Monroe purred “Happy Birthday, Mr. President” to JFK, 1962. Photo by the great Bill Ray.

There’s a new book out about Sergio Larrain, the Chilean-born photographer whose early work was acquired by MoMA and who joined Magnum at the personal invitation of Henri Cartier-Bresson. The book, “Valparaiso,” is avail from @thamesandhudson.bsky.social and in French from Atelier exb

Would @shopify.bsky.social allow a Klansman to sell a T-shirt with a noose?

Photographer Anne Rearick visited small, rural villages in the Basque Country for 34 years. Her new book, “Gure Bazterrak,” is a quietly stunning ode to country life, where nothing and everything happens. It’s just gorgeous. Available from @deadbeat-club.bsky.social

Thanks to the NYT and writer @hopereese.bsky.social for covering my book, “What We Keep,” today. (See below for link)

Podcast Alert: How Much Text Belongs In Your Photobook? Who should write it? What should it say? @unofphoto.bsky.social & I discuss. With insights from Blake Andrew’s and Dominik Pollin of IDEA Books. Listen here: unitednationsofphotography.com/2025/02/05/p...

Happy birthday to legendary photographer Jim Marshall, who would have been 89 today. (Check out the great doc about him, “Show Me the Picture,” on Hulu.)

The man who gave the double Nazi salute? Well, America, now his hands are in your money.

Me? I guess I’m rooting for Mexico and Canada.

Attention, photobook makers…

Cool art by cool artist Nick Cave at the Jack Shainman gallery in NYC

This is just bananas.

Margaret Bourke-White’s photo of the liberation of Buchenwald didn’t appear in LIFE until 15 years after she made it. You can see more of her shocking, hard-to-look at images here: www.life.com/history/behi...

Love this

The mesmerizing photos of Pancho Saula (of the Galeria Alta) from his book, “Madagascar.” More on my IG: @billshapiro

c @billshapiro.bsky.social @eriklarsen.bsky.social