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Ask HN: Any good Silicon Valley Photo coffee table books?

71 pointsby vclouderover 1 year ago
Has anyone come across any good photo books of Silicon Valley from the past or present. I love looking back and reliving those early days of the valley and like to see how it has transformed.

17 comments

marcuskazover 1 year ago
Not a book, and a bit self promotional, but I have a small photo series I worked on <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;mkaz.com&#x2F;silicon-valley&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;mkaz.com&#x2F;silicon-valley&#x2F;</a><p>Also, look for Silicon Valley &#x27;07 by Gabriele Basilico, it&#x27;s a photo book - not a huge coffee table book but pretty good with about 80-100 photos from 2007
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ruggeriover 1 year ago
I bought San Francisco Dream (Yoko Takahashi) a while back. It had a lot of photos that reminded me of what it felt like when I had just moved here.<p>Possibly not an answer to your question, but just in case someone else reading finds it interesting.<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;leicastoresf.com&#x2F;collections&#x2F;lssf-photobooks&#x2F;products&#x2F;yoko-takahashi-san-francisco-dream" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;leicastoresf.com&#x2F;collections&#x2F;lssf-photobooks&#x2F;product...</a>
bwbover 1 year ago
i am not 100% sure, but i think this one was the same one I browsed in a waiting room once and it was pretty cool -&gt; <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.siliconvalleysmarts.com&#x2F;silicon-valley-book" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.siliconvalleysmarts.com&#x2F;silicon-valley-book</a>
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sizzzzlerzover 1 year ago
To really understand it&#x27;s changes, you first need a book with pictures of the valley from the 1940&#x27;s to the 1960&#x27;s. I don&#x27;t have such a book but I&#x27;ve seen a number of pictures when the valley was all orchards. Then you overlay those with modern day pictures and you see how places like Sunnyvale, Mountain View, and Palo Alto transformed into large cities that essentially removed those trees and replaced them with buildings, houses, and roads. I could study those pictures for hours.
coldpieover 1 year ago
I suppose print-on-demand services are cheap enough that you could put together your own fairly easily. Flickr has very permissive licensing by default, if you wanted to make it available for others, too.
electrondoodover 1 year ago
At Half Price Books in Fremont, there&#x27;s an entire shelf dedicated to these local history books.<p>Some of my favorites:<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.amazon.com&#x2F;Palo-Alto-Centennial-Ward-Winslow&#x2F;dp&#x2F;0963809830&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.amazon.com&#x2F;Palo-Alto-Centennial-Ward-Winslow&#x2F;dp&#x2F;...</a><p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.amazon.com&#x2F;Menlo-Park-California-Beyond-Gate&#x2F;dp&#x2F;1881529649" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.amazon.com&#x2F;Menlo-Park-California-Beyond-Gate&#x2F;dp&#x2F;...</a><p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.amazon.com&#x2F;Seabright-Images-America-Arcadia-Publishing&#x2F;dp&#x2F;1540215652" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.amazon.com&#x2F;Seabright-Images-America-Arcadia-Publ...</a><p>In fact, the Images of America series is exactly what you&#x27;re looking for, think.<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.arcadiapublishing.com&#x2F;collections&#x2F;images-of-america" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.arcadiapublishing.com&#x2F;collections&#x2F;images-of-amer...</a>
ratanaover 1 year ago
Check out “Songbook” by Alec Soth. He’s an amazing photographer, and while the book isn’t exclusively Silicon Valley, there’s some great photos of various campuses and areas that feel timeless.<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.buzzfeednews.com&#x2F;article&#x2F;justinesharrock&#x2F;silicon-valley-hidden-in-plain-sight" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.buzzfeednews.com&#x2F;article&#x2F;justinesharrock&#x2F;silicon...</a><p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.magnumphotos.com&#x2F;shop&#x2F;collections&#x2F;books&#x2F;songbook-alec-soth-signed&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.magnumphotos.com&#x2F;shop&#x2F;collections&#x2F;books&#x2F;songbook...</a>
cpachover 1 year ago
I haven’t read it in physical form, but maybe <i>Revolution in the Valley: The Insanely Great Story of How the Mac Was Made</i> by Andy Hertzfeld?<p>AFAICT it’s based on the stories from <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;folklore.org&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;folklore.org&#x2F;</a>, so I ought to be good.<p>You can see how it looks here: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=WMExWOBvmho" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=WMExWOBvmho</a><p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Revolution_in_the_Valley" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Revolution_in_the_Valley</a>
bastianover 1 year ago
Same. Let&#x27;s work on publishing one. I am happy to fund it.
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moose44over 1 year ago
Does anyone have any tips for moving to the valley at a young age?<p>I&#x27;m very young, not from the US and looking to move to the valley to be around more ambitious people.<p>Any tips or things I should know? Neighbourhoods to consider? Areas to be in? What to avoid? How to meet people? Hidden gems?
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spkingover 1 year ago
This book has a lot of great Bay Area photos from the 50s-60s:<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.amazon.com&#x2F;Mid-Century-Bay-Celebration-Francisco-1950s&#x2F;dp&#x2F;0615316565" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.amazon.com&#x2F;Mid-Century-Bay-Celebration-Francisco...</a>
Yanaelover 1 year ago
I enjoyed the photo book of SF by Victoria Smith<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.amazon.co.uk&#x2F;See-San-Francisco-Through-SFGirlbyBay&#x2F;dp&#x2F;1452138206" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.amazon.co.uk&#x2F;See-San-Francisco-Through-SFGirlbyB...</a>
rafaelcover 1 year ago
I highly recommend &quot;Silicon Valley: The History In Pictures&quot; by Mary Wadden<p>Edit: (Written in conjunction with the Silicon Valley Historical Association)
plgover 1 year ago
<a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;shifthappens.site" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;shifthappens.site</a>
supportengineerover 1 year ago
Look up “San Jose signs project” or the San Francisco one.
aamoygover 1 year ago
The HP Way ?
corethreeover 1 year ago
A bit of an aside. But I would love a book on the comprehensive history of silicon valley up to and describing the crisis we face today of housing and everyone leaving.
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