Used to buy my fair share of photobooks, now I tend to get significantly less. One reason is economic, sure- the other, I just want something that is significantly different from anything I already have and have seen, or... it just has to be a degree above that already owned. That said, I'm happy to report there are three books (coming) out that easily fall into one of the above...
One is Last Stop by Brian Rose, photos taken at the ends of each subway line in NYC- which, to be honest, sounds both incredibly boring and fascinating at the same time. "Boring" because that is probably the way it would come out in my hands (so what, it's the end of the line, what's so special about that), "fascinating" in the hands of Rose because he has the track record of coming up with the goods where others wouldn't, and certain to find that which is visually fascinating, in that it is both everyday mundane, as well as delightfully unique and intriguing.
Asa Nisi Masa by Blake Andrews is his first published monograph, and is full of the visual quirks and oddities Blake is so famous for. I still recall the delight I experienced upon first viewing his work every time I look at his work anew. One can feel the joy he experiences in seeing the world from such a delightfully enigmatic viewpoint. Life playing out before you in a series of visual mishaps and serendipities that make it all worthwhile to be out and alive. Much of "street photography" today can be reduced to a bunch of one note visual tropes and formulas, but one never feels cheated with his work- more like rewarded.
Chicago by Mark Steinmetz is well... what can one say, the guy is a- "master." And for all the baggage the term might carry, the guy has certainly proven it in just about everything he creates, splicing seemingly banal moments of life with a visual assuredness and profundity that... only a master can. Can't go wrong with any of his work, it's that good.
No comments:
Post a Comment