Kikuji Kawada in Popular Photography

Kikuji Kawada is best known for his first book, Chizu or The Map, published in 1965. It is one of the high points in the history of photography books. As Parr & Badger say in The History of the Photobook, Vol. 1, "No photobook has been more successful in combining graphic design with complex photographic narrative."

In 1971, Shashin Hyoronsha published his second book, Seinaru Sekai or Sacre Atavism (cover above.) Today, it's less well known than The Map especially since The Map was re-published in a gorgeous facsimile edition in 2005 by Nazraeli Press.

What follows is a "gravure portfolio" from Popular Photography, June, 1975, of work from Sacre Atavism.

Plus: Special Bonus Book Review at the end!

First spread

Second spread

Third spread

Fourth spread

Fifth spread

Jump 1

Jump 2

Helen Levitt at Laurence Miller Gallery

Helen Levitt has been associated with the Laurence Miller Gallery for quite a while though I can find no reference to shows at the gallery before 2000. And yet, the first announcement is 1996.

All cards are stiff stock, 9 x 5 inches, printed on one side.

1996

2001

2002

2004

2005

Lewis Baltz at Janet Borden

In 1992, Lewis Baltz moved from Castelli Graphics, which had shown his work since 1971, to Janet Borden, Inc. In 1993, the Borden galllery held it's first exhibition of Baltz' work and another show in 1995. Beyond that, I can't find any references to other shows. Maybe Baltz moved on.

What follows is the invite from the first show and a card announcing that Borden now represents Baltz, exclusively. Both cards feature imagery that is not the work of the artist, but the artist himself.

Unless you want to argue that we are all a work-in-progress of our own artistic creation, in which case...

Announcement card that opens horizontally
Front

Open

Postcard, front and back

Thanks to Jeff Ladd for this posting. You can see his work here and here.

Odds and Ends

I've been accused of not being contemporary often enough, so here are some random cards from the last couple of years.

One of the many failings of our handling of the war in Iraq, was the assumption that there would be no State-side repercussions, especially if we hid the aftereffects of combat. At first we saw nothing. Then, the only time we saw the wounded, was if George Bush was in the picture, at a hospital, greeting someone. We rarely saw the dead, rarely saw funerals (out of "respect for the families") and rarely saw the walking wounded.

I found this insulting, both to me and to those who "gave the last full measure of devotion" to their country. If the cause is just, the cost should be borne by all. That includes facing the effects of war. The fact is, war, even modern war, is, and will always be, horrific. Munitions are designed to cause terrible damage to the body, rendering it incapable of continuing the fight. If we're going to wage war, we, as a society, need to acknowledge the costs and shoulder them equally.

Which is a long way of getting to Nina Berman's series of portraits called "Purple Hearts." The work is very good: achingly poignant, unfailingly honest, hauntingly surreal. It got good exposure--at least on the east coast there a number of shows, the work appeared to various purposes in many publications and the book was well received. And it deserved all of that and more.

For a show on Staten Island:

Oversized Postcard (8 x 6 inches)

I've always found it difficult to believe that Weinberger's portraits of this odd fashion subculture wasn't just purely set-up. But then I remember me as a teenager...

Postcard (5 x 7 inches)

Human bodies always look great in water. None better than Clergue's though.

Postcard (5 x 7.75 inches)

Oversized Postcard (8.5 x 6 inches)

Postcard (6 x 4.5 inches)

David Goldblatt, Part 4

Here's a little trifle, interesting only because it seems incongruous for David Goldblatt's work to appear in a magazine with such a cover. Pix is a South African version of Popular Photography--tricks in PhotoShop, lenses to use, equipment reviews, etc. The text about Goldblatt is mostly platitudes and information about equipment and film.

May/June 2007
(8.25 x 11.25 inches, 114 pages)

Love and a very special thanks to Ann in SA for feeding my interests.

Richard Misrach

Show and Tell today features gallery announcements for shows of Richard Misrach's work. They tend to be more graphically interesting than most.

The title of this first show is From My Front Porch. I don't really know what to say about having a view like this from one's front porch. Had I such a view from my front porch, I'm not sure I would ever leave the porch. For any reason. Might miss something.

There was a book of this work called Golden Gate, produced by Arena in 2001 and reissued in 2005 by Aperture.

1999 - Robert Mann Gallery, NYC

(26 x 5 inch heavy glossy paper, folded three times to produce a 6.5 x 5 inch pamphlet
that opens once to a double gate-fold )

Front

Back

Opened once

Both gatefolds open

This show was held in conjunction with the release of his book, The Sky Book, Arena Editions.

2000 - Curt Marcus Gallery, NYC

(6 x 4.25 inch, stiff card, printed one side)

2002 - Robert Mann Gallery, NYC

(10.5 x 8.5 stiff card)

Front

Back

The On The Beach series was published in book form in 2007 by Aperture. It's huge: 20 inches wide by 16 inches. This trend toward huge books is a little disconcerting. Where do you put these in a studio apartment? I feel like I need a bookstand just to go through the book.

I looked into bookstands a couple of years ago and found that most are custom made these days (those that are of any interest stylistically or of any useful size for photography books.) But to get one big enough to hold this--40 inches across when open--would be prohibitively expensive.

2004 - Pace/MacGill, Chelsea, NYC

(35 x 16 inch glossy poster, folded three times to produce a 8 x 8.75 inch pamphlet)

Front

Back

Opened

Again, Chronologies was mounted concurrent with the release of a book of the same name, an overview of Misrach's career. And again, it's big--12.5 x 15.5 inches and weighs over 8 pounds--with, according to the back of this show announcement, 125 "extraordinary" reproductions. It is a nice book.

2006 - Pace/MacGill, Chelsea, NYC

(20 x 16 inch heavy glossy poster, folded twice to produce a 10 x 8 inch pamphlet)

Front

Back

Detail of signature

Opened once

Fully opened

David Goldblatt, Part 3

From The Star, a daily newspaper in Johannesburg, South Africa:



The Star, March 10, 2006

Goldblatt Honoured
For his Acute Perception
SA photographer wins award for his portrayal of social and political life in country of his birth

By Demian Van Der Reijden

SOUTH AFRICAN PHOTOGRAPHER David Goldblatt (75) has been awarded the 2006 Hasselblad Foundation International Award in Photography, the organisation announced yesterday.

"I feel honoured," Goldblatt said. "But I feel strange as well. Many people who won this prize before me are great photographers I've admired all my life. Being among the greatest in my profession is...strange."

Goldblatt won the prize for his lifelong portrayal of the social and political life in South Africa, the Hasselblad Foundation said.

"His acute historical and political perception provides a sense of the texture of daily life, and an important piece of missing information regarding life, under apartheid in South Africa," the citation noted.

He will receive his prize, a golden medal and 500,000 krona (almost R400,000), at a ceremony in December in Goteborg, Sweden. The award will be made by a member of the Swedish royal family.

The winner of the prestigious annual prize is disclosed on March 8, the anniversary of the birthday of the founder of the Hasselblad camera equipment company, Victor Hasselblad.

"I knew I won for a couple of months already, but I had to keep it a secret," Golblatt said.

"I held an exhibition on Reunion Island last December, when I got a call from Sweden. Of course there were some people close to me who also knew."

Goldblatt, who lives in Johannesburg, ventured into photography during high school. Several collections of his photographs have been published as books, and his works have been displayed at museums all over the world.

"This is actually the third prize in photography I have won, as far as I can remember. The first I won when I was only 16--it was a Meccano photography prize. The second one was in the late eighties, the Camera Austria prize. And now this. I was really surprised, because the nominees are never revealed," a happy Goldblatt concluded.

The Erna and Victor Hasselblad Foundation promotes scientific education and research in natural sciences and photography.

The Hasselblad Foundation's citation reads: "David Goldblatt's work is a life-long observation of the social and political developments within South African society.

"He has been concerned to explore the relationship between individual subjects
and the structures within which they live.

"His interest in the violent history of his country, and his awareness of the symbolic significance of architecture, form an extraordinary statement both personal and socio-political.

"Photography," in the words of David Goldblatt, reveals "something of the subtlety and ambiguity of our shifting and frequently contradictory perceptions of reality".

"The reason why Goldblatt has been chosen for the Hasselblad Award is because his photographs are acute in historical and political perception."
© The Star 2006

Love and a very special thanks to Ann in SA for feeding my interests.