Interesting short (22 minute) interview with George Tice: “… (1938-) an American photographer, best known for his meticulously crafted black and white prints in silver gelatin and platinum, as well as his books, which depict a broad range of American life, landscape, and urban environment, mostly photographed in his native New Jersey, where he has lived all his life, except for his service in the U. S. Navy, a brief period in California, a fellowship in the United Kingdom, and summer workshops in Maine, where he taught at the Maine Photographic Workshops, now the Maine Media Workshops” (Wikipedia).
Atget by John Szarkowski
Finally managed to get my hands on Atget by John Szarkowski.
Eugène Atget is my favorite photographer, arguably because I came across this book many years ago either on the internet, or in a library or somewhere I could not take away a copy of my own. It had a profound influence on me, as indeed did Atget on such luminaries as Henri Cartier-Bresson, Walker Evans, Berenice Abbott (who I believe took the picture above), Robert Frank, Lee Friedlander and others.
Photobookjournal.com describes it as follows:
I have a broad collection of photographic books that have had an image or two of Atget’s photographs and I really wanted to have a dedicated resource to read and study to further understand Atget’s way of looking at his environment. There are a number of alternative hardcover book options for Atgets photographs but to have access a paring of Atget’s photographs with the insights of Szarkowski and the beautifully printing and binding by MOMA in Italy was just too hard to resist.
The images are all well displayed in the book with a Atget photograph on the right and on the opposite spread the commentary about the photograph by Szarkowski.
So I have now traveled throught this book many times. At first I had hoped for a little more analysis of the structure of the photograph from Szarkowski and then I realized that he was helping to frame the context of the photograph as much as describing the photographs attributes.
The book sequences Atget photographs chronologically taking you on a historical journey through the development of Atget’s body of work. You come to understand that even Bernice Abbott, who became the champion of Atget’s photographs, did not get that close to the photographer himself.
So in conclusion this a book that I can really recommend.
Me too.
On Photographs by David Campany
The summary on Amazon.com reads:
An exploration of photography in 120 photographs.
In On Photographs, curator and writer David Campany presents an exploration of photography in 120 photographs. Proceeding not by chronology or genre or photographer, Campany’s eclectic selection unfolds according to its own logic. We see work by Henri Cartier-Bresson, William Eggleston, Helen Levitt, Garry Winogrand, Yves Louise Lawler, Andreas Gursky, and Rineke Dijkstra. There is fashion photography by William Klein, one of Vivian Maier’s contact sheets, and a carefully staged scene by Gregory Crewdson, as well as images culled from magazines and advertisements.
Each ofthe 120 photographs is accompanied by Campany’s lucid and incisive commentary, considering the history of that image and its creator, interpreting its content and meaning, and connecting and contextualizing it with visual culture. Image by image, we absorb and appreciate Campany’s complex yet playful take on photography and its history.
The title, On Photographs, alludes to Susan Sontag’s influential and groundbreaking On Photography. As an undergraduate, Campany met Sontag and questioned her assessment of photography without including specific photographs. Sontag suggested that someday Campany could write his own book on the subject, titled On Photographs. Now he has.
It’s a useful book with lots on information on the photographs and the photographers, many of whom I’d previously never heard of. It’s not a book I would try to read from beginning to end. Rather it’s something to pick up and browse through when you have a few minutes to spare.
Edward Weston Omnibus
A while back I picked a copy of “Edward Weston Omnibus. A Critical Anthology. Edited by Beaumont Newhall and Amy Conger, Gibbs M. Smith, Peregrine Smith Books, Salt Lake City, 1984.”
An Amazon Reviewer describes it as follows:
Edward Weston is one of the 20th century photographers who influenced many artists and left a unique and everlasting work of art to people who appreciate and understand his work. His aesthetic approach for photography makes him different in terms of the value, meaning, and dedication he has for his work of art. One can appreciate his ability to manipulate and distort the images of objects to make them appear in uncommon ways. He has an extraordinary skill for approaching and viewing subjects through his camera to capture details, light, shade, texture and movement in ensemble.
The book, Edward Weston Omnibus, holds a collection of critical articles written by his closest friends, journalists, and artists such as Diego Rivera, Ansel Adams. The articles were mainly written by his contemporaries who, in response to exhibitions of his works, admired, commented, questioned and in some cases challenged his style of photography that evolved from years of work in the West, Mexico and California in particular. The book also consists Weston’s responses to his critics and pictures of some of his works. His countless photographs of subjects such as still life, landscape and portraits were admired and praised for the flawless visibility of their elements. The book may help readers to familiarize themselves with Weston’s style of photography, in particular his selection of his subjects and his vantage points that are crucially responsible for creating fine prints.
There are around 50 articles, all of them quite short. In addition there are 44 plates of Weston photographs.
Two photography books
I’ve just finished reading two books related to Alfred Stieglitz. Stieglitz was a major figure in the latter part of the 19th Century and the first half of the 20th century. He originally built his reputation as a photographer and was instrumental in getting photography accepted as an art. He opened galleries (Little Galleries of the Photo-Secession also called ‘291’ after its address; The Intimate Gallery also known as “The Room”; and An American Place) where he displayed not only what he considered to be the best photography of the time, but also American artists (e.g John Marin, Stieglitz’s wife, Georgia O’Keeffe). He also presented works from European artists who were later to because world renowned (e.g Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, and Constantin Brâncuși). He was initially a supporter of and mentor to such photography luminaries as Edward Steichen and Paul Strand. Stieglitz’s large ego and narcissistic personality could not allow anyone else to be a “leader” and he eventually broke with Steichen (because he saw him as becoming too commercial) and Strand (who felt that art should support social change).
The first of the two books: Alfred Steiglitz. Taking pictures. Making Painters by Phyllis Rose takes as its focus Stieglitz himself. It’s a relatively short, easy read giving all of the essentials of Stieglitz’s life and work. It also has a large number of photographs illustrating both his work, and the work of others in his circle.
The second book: Foursome. Alfred Stieglitz, Georgia O’Keeffe, Paul Strand, Rebecca Salsbury by Carolyn Burke is about a third longer and much more complex in subject matter, dealing with the complex and often bewildering relationships between Stieglitz and his wife (Georgia O’Keeffe) and Strand and his wife (Rebecca Salsbury Strand).
Both are well worth reading.
