Musicians and designers have also sifted through photography's rich history for powerful photographs to match and keep company with the music enclosed within: Anders Peterson's classic Café Leibnitz portrait of a man nestled into a partner, stands in for Tom Waits on the cover of Swordfishtrombones; Big Star and Alex Chilton push the listener into a corner with William Eggleston's Red Ceiling on their album Radio City; Rage Against the Machine goes for the jugular with the anonymous Vietnam War photo of the self-immolation of a Buddhist monk. Iconic images like the Abbey Road crosswalk are deeply inscribed in our collective memory, but we know few details about the photographer of the image. All of these-and more-are included in this compendium of electrifying images and the albums they grace. Total Records reveals the artists behind some of the most striking images on vinyl sleeves and takes us on a journey through the cultural history of the twentieth century.
Tokyo 1955-1970: A New Avant-Garde explores the extraordinary convergence of artists and other creators in Japan's capital city during the radically transformative postwar period. Examining works from a range of media--painting, sculpture, photography, drawing, printmaking, video and film, as well as graphic design, architecture, musical composition and dance--this is the first publication in English to focus in depth on the full scope of postwar art in Japan. During this period, Tokyo was a vibrant hub that attracted such critical artistic figures as Taro Okamoto, Hiroshi Nakamura, Ay-O, Yoko Ono, Mieko Shiomi and Tetsumi Kudo; photographers Daido Moriyama, Eikoh Hosoe and Shomei Tomatsu; illustrators and graphic designers Tadanori Yokoo, Kohei Sugiura and Kiyoshi Awazu; and architects Arata Isozaki and Kisho Kurokawa; as well as many important artists' collectives. Curator Doryun Chong's essay investigates Tokyo's sociopolitical context and the massive urban changes that set the stage for the city to emerge as a vital node in the international avant-garde network. Essays by scholars Hayashi Michio and Miryam Sas and curator Mika Yoshitake discuss critical concepts in art and culture at this time, including "graphism," which manifested itself across various mediums; the development of new sculptural languages; and the "intermedia" tendency that engendered provocative cross-pollination among artistic genres. Masatoshi Nakajima provides an illustrated chronology and Yuri Mitsuda supplies artist biographies. Tokyo 1955-1970: A New Avant-Garde brings fresh insight to this dynamic metropolis during a time of remarkable artistic burgeoning.
The main stem of the Colorado River flows from the Colorado Rocky Mountains to the Mexico border. And while it provides water for almost 40 million people and irrigates 5.5 million acres of farmland throughout the American West, it is also one of the most over-allocated, highly controlled, and endangered rivers. Through extensive research of the historical as well as current day contextual factors and implications, photographer Debbie Bentley presents a comprehensive documentation of the river, its 16 dams, the reservoirs, and people in its path in her new book, Dammed: Birth to Death of the Colorado River (Daylight Books).
Paul Hart’s latest body of work Fragile (2020-23) is a personal reflection on nature and was made in the landscape close to his home in England. The aesthetic is rooted in the notion of a heightened awareness of the natural world, of both a physical engagement and spiritual connection to the land. Whilst becoming absorbed in this instinctual, visceral approach, Hart has become acutely aware of both the physical beauty and delicate vulnerability of these natural forms. Although concerns of the environment and sustainability are present throughout, Fragile departs from the central study of place usually associated with his work, to evoke a more abstract ethereal sensibility.
Der Greif and Shirin Neshat put out an open call, inspired by the line „I am a common pain, scream me“ from Ahmad Shamlou‘s poem “Common Love”, printed on the inner cover of this issue.
In a poignant exploration of humanity, Scot Sothern’s latest project, LOOK AT ME, turns a provocative lens on homelessness, Hollywood tourism, and the unseen struggles of everyday Americans. Through the lens of alternative street photography, Sothern positions himself as a modern-day vagabond, echoing the profiles of those he encounters on his odyssey, coming face to face with humankind, capturing the unfiltered essence of life at its most candid.
God’s Promises Mean Everything spans seven years in the life of Derek, a homeless hostel resident who lives in Teesside in the North East of England – an area that has a rich industrial history and was formerly a major iron and steel hub. After being granted permission by the hostel, he visited Derek 1-2 times a month – to drop off food or hang out, talk or just listen to music. Through these visits, this time spent in each others’ company became essential to the work and allowed a unique fully collaborative project to develop.
Dominoes is a unique and vibrant mosaic of the lives that float in and around a particular corner of Hackney in London’s East End. The book is populated by intimate pictures of people who have experienced addiction and pain as well as the deep joys of the community of which they are a part. Gillett Square was derelict and underdeveloped for years until, in the 1990s it became an experiment in urban regeneration. Just like the dominoes that are now played in the square, those lives are often precarious.
Alongside an exploration of Bayard’s decades-long career and lasting impact, Hippolyte Bayard and the
Invention of Photography (J. Paul Getty Museum, $65) presents—for the first time in print—some of the earliest
photographs in existence. Among the Getty Museum’s rarest and most treasured photographic holdings is an
album containing nearly 200 images, 145 of those by or attributed to Bayard. Few of these prints have ever
been seen in person due to the extreme light sensitivity of Bayard’s experimental processes, making this an
essential reference for scholars and photography enthusiasts alike.
For seven years, American photographer Barbara Peacock crisscrossed the United States photographing people in the spaces they defined as their bedrooms. The bedroom is an inherently personal space where humans are perhaps at their most vulnerable. Whether a room in a house, a camper, or an outdoor space, Peacock presents a body of work that invites the viewer to consider the stories we each carry, and how those unify us all.
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