Most photographic books highlight photographs taken by well-known photographers, but generally ignore military photographers and the well-designed and durable equipment they used to document history.
For Navy photography, that changed with the 2000 publication of Art Giberson's National Association of Naval Photography-sponsored,
Eyes of the Fleet: A History of Naval Photography
.
This second printing,
The Crazy Ones Shot the Film
, brings the reader up-to-date on the current status of Navy and Marine Corps photographers and completes the 92-year history of sea service photography.
A retired Chief Photographer's Mate, Mr. Giberson's book highlights many of the people involved in naval photography from the earliest days, beginning in 1914 when the Navy's first "official" photographer, Walter L. Richardson, a ship's cook and amateur photographer, took some of the first pictures for the naval service.
This book fills a gap in the knowledge of military photography and cameras in a highly concise and picture-loaded form and is sure to be of value to a wide range of people interested in the history of photography.