May 2013
The Rite of Spring at 100
31 May 2013
Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring is 100 years old this month. There are over 100 different recordings commercially available making it one of the most recorded 20th century musical works. Have a look at a visualisation of the last minute of this great work above or visit Stephen Malinowski’s Music Animation Machine for more.
PHOTOBOX
12 May 2013
Photobox is one of my favourite photography anthologies in recent years. Published in 2009 by Thames & Hudson, its a guide to 200 of the world's most outstanding photographers and their work. A list of the photographers included can be seen here
It is divided into into 12 categories:- Reportage, War, Portraits, Nudes, Women, Tavel, Cities, Art, Fashion, Still Life, Sport, and Nature. Each spread shows an example of the work on the right and a brief summary and biography on the left. Although this is concise, it is, never the less, rich in content.
As you can see, photos in a landscape aspect are turned to maximise their reproduction size, but it means rotating the book away from the text to view the image. In practise, for me, this works surprisingly well as it allows concentration on the work without easily darting back to the text.
Books like this can act as a springboard for exploration and inspiration into areas of photography one may not be familiar with. Very good reproductions, a vital ingredient in book of this nature, and at a reasonable price of around €25, Photobox’s compact size make this an approachable survey for photographers of all ages.
Harry Callahan: The Photographer at Work
04 May 2013
A major retrospective exhibition on the work of Harry Callahan has opened in Hamburg, Germany and will run until June 9 2013. Information can be found here and installation views here. The good news for those of us who will not get to see it is that Kehrer Verlag will be publishing a book (in german and english) of the show. It will feature texts by Julian Cox, Peter MacGill, Dick Luckow and Sabine Schnakenberg.
One can only hope that is will approach the quality of Yale University Press 2006 publication, Harry Callahan: A photographer at Work. This is a gem of a book which has an excellent essay by Britt Salvesen and foreword by John Szarkowski.
The book gives an insight into the creative approach of Callahan, from his selection of themes, his experimentations, the printing process, to reflections from the photographer himself. To quote from Brit Salvesen essay " He seemed to be able to move effortlessly across the territory that lay between the poles established by Adams and Moholy. Tonal and linear , emotional and detached, spiritual and material, naive and sophisticated, personal and universal: these oppositions seem to characterise Callahan's entire production and to explain his enduring reputation”.
Combine this with thoughtful page design and excellent duotone printing, it is easy to heartily recommend this book to anyone who is interested in exploring Callahan's work.
As for the 'retrospective' book it promises to show a greater overview of this great American photographer’s work, and that will be no bad thing.
