Wim Wenders: Instant Stories Hardcover – 9 Nov. 2017

I have lusted after this book since publication and now that I finally have my hands on it am very pleased to report that it's everything I thought it would be. And quite a bit more.Firstly, it's a sizeable chunk of beautifully bound and printed book, but not of the "coffee table" variety that can kill of few empty minutes with an occasional flip through - the kind that you want to sit down and spend some time with.The polaroid images are reproduced throughout as best polaroid images can be - but far from being a negative (see what i did there?) that's part of the point - the one-off nature of the polaroid, what it meant, what it means now ... and Wenders' descriptions and musing on these images from The Time Before The Smart Phone are illuminating, perceptive and a joy to read. Of course they are - he's Wim Wenders.I hope I'm not out of order sharing the final paragraph, but could never convey the feel of this beautiful book better:"I'm happy that these Polaroids remind me (us?) how much fun we had when photo's existed as "objects, uniquely, like all other things, when they could be passed on by hand, from one to another one at a time, only one, singular and matchless. And when we all knew friends, because they were really there."'my new favourite book if you couldn't tell

A beautiful book, I saw the exhibition at The Photographers Gallery last weekend and buying this book was a must. I had already flicked through a copy in the gallery shop so I knew what to expect, but it's quite big so I didn't want to carry it around with me for the rest of the day, hence opting to buy online later. Beautiful reproductions of a large selection of the Polaroids from the show. As an artist/photographer myself, this will be a great source of inspiration, I'll be dipping in and out of this book regularly.

An excellent book .. worth every penny

This is quite a different book to the other one which I recently reviewed that starred the town and landscapes of the area around Paris, Texas. This one is comprised of a whole load of Polaroid photos taken by Wim all around the world. Shooting Polaroids is a different discipline to film photography and a world away from digital. There is no post click processing, what you shot is what you got. So, this tome has wonderful reproductions of, in the main, Polaroids shown life size and then some deliberately enlarged to show the finer detail(or lack thereof) and ambience therein.Because the subject matter varies so widely this book, despite its explicit and always adhered to aim, can sometimes drift into basic snap territory rather than the finely crafted work in his other books.Still, a highly enjoyable read and highly recommended to fans of Wim Wenders, Polaroids and 70’s and 80’s USA

Really happy!

It's a great book in which polaroids (prints of) intersect the telling of Wenders. Beautiful!

I do not understand the other, poor, reviews here: This is an incredible book, and I thank Wim Wenders for sharing these photos, and his accompanying essays, with us. The book itself is wonderfully printed, and the reproductions amazingly well done - with obvious care and a great eye for selection and design.Yes, these are vintage Polaroids, and so they are not pristine, sharp 35mm prints, or digital images - that is the whole point of the book. They are faded, sometimes dark, sometimes light, sometimes damaged. As Wenders astutely notes in his opening essay, they are objects unto themselves, and though not entirely ephemeral, they come across almost as fleeting, like a lost thought, or memory. They certainly have their own very beautiful and very unique aesthetic . . .and I guess that some people just don't understand or appreciate that.Aside from the many photographs, Wenders' accompanying essays are also extraordinary. Part memoir, part observation, part artistic musing and exploration, they are simply and elegantly written; deeply personal; and a valuable - moving even - insight into the artist and his work: Wenders discusses not only the Polaroids themselves, but the travels, friendships and films that were the heart and soul of Wenders life at the time. It is all very interesting, and very revealing.This is a truly great book. And at $20-25, an exceptional deal.

If you are a photographer looking for photography this book isn't it. The two one star reviews here seem to be of a common mind that way. For whatever it's worth, I came away with a different view. The book isn't supposed to be about photography. It is supposed to be a series of journeys about a young artist in the early years of his development. Wenders will tell you himself these photos were meant to document his everyday experiences, and not be published for the sake of art. In fact, he never expected anyone to want them. I was far more interested in the experiences documented here, then I was in the photos. Much of this reminded me of some student film: Where all sorts of technical flaws are present, but the moment and the heart of it are captured in the second of a Polaroid, with Wenders writing in the first person about his impressions and history. Remember, he had input into how this book was put together. It is a mistake to look at this as a photography book, or a work of art. I would say his intention has been overlooked by both publisher, and maybe, the public.

I concur with the previous review. The description is wrong and the photographs are awful.While I've owned several Polaroid cameras over my many years in photography, I cannot recall ever making a single Polaroid that was worth the trouble. The Polaroid was a note-taking device for me, nothing more. Every time I tried to get serious, I was disappointed with the results. Apparently Wenders had the same results with his Polaroids--they just aren't good.I've been impressed with Wim Wenders' photography for some time. His photos from around the world of mundane subjects and vernacular architecture have always brought me pleasure. I have several other books of his photography and the only negative thing I can say about them is that the photographs were reproduced too small. Since this is a larger format book, I expected better presentation. Unfortunately that is not the case. The Polaroid snapshots are presented small throughout the book with a few reproduced full bleed across two full pages. Such a poor presentation would kill even the best photos. But the photos are DOA. Honestly, I began to get a headache looking at these dark, murky, uninspired pictures. Wenders says the photos were discovered in his old wooden cigar boxes where they had suffered various deteriorations over the decades. Would that he had left them there or tossed them out in the trash.I'm tempted to return the book based on the erroneous description here on Amazon. But I've read a bit of Wenders' narration and it is interesting. Based on the text alone, I'll probably just keep the book so I can read it. But even here, the presentation of the text is pretty bad--it's done in old Elite type as if done on an old Royal typewriter which makes it unpleasant to read.I cannot stress enough how disappointing this book is. If you are familiar with Wenders' photography and his previous books and you are expecting more of the same, you will be just as disappointed.

WARNING: This book has not been described correctly. This book contains really poorly made and reproduced polaroids which when compared to photographer Wim Wenders previous books is unbecoming is subjective, colorful, and beautiful vernacular eye. I received the book today and have not read the entire contents because it is being returned-post haste. ANOTHER WARNING: The description of Wenders using his Panorama camera for this book is false, there are no Panorama images or any contribution by “Patti Smith.” I am amazed that an image maker like Wenders would have thought this book could be visual interesting. I am not interested in your friends mugging a polaroid camera, I am interested in photographs which tell me which you think photography is about. <[email protected], craigcarlson.net>