The Cat-and-Mouse Game Continues

Saul Leiter: Early Color is once again available new on Amazon this morning, for$40.95. Last time it remained available for only a matter of hours.

I really have no idea what's causing the on-again, off-again availability of this book. Whether it's some real circumstance or whether the publisher is playing games with us, I have no clue. I'm just dutifully passing the news along.

_____________________

Mike

UPDATE: Well, it's gone again, as of 2:45 p.m., although there seem to be copies a-plenty available from third-party suppliers (at the link)—for the time being, anyway. I suppose what may be happening is that speculators buy up large numbers as soon as new copies become available, keeping the supply low and the price high. I don't know why the publisher wouldn't just print more, but maybe they're afraid of saturating the market and getting stuck with large numbers of copies. I'm curious enough that I might try to do a little investigating as to what's going on with this.

Featured Comment by Gabriele Harhoff: "I don't have a clue how this happens either. But to answer an earlier question: I compared Early Color and the self-titled book. Yes, they do share some pictures, but Early Color has so much more to offer that I am really glad I got it. Of course this is a personal decision but I find Early Color so beautiful that I'm happy to own both books. If I had to choose only one I would opt for Early Color."

Comments

[Chris Allen]

I bought this book on your recommendation the last time you mentioned it. At first, I did not understand what the big deal was. Some of the pictures just looked like random snapshots. Then I noticed that when I viewed "Picture Frame, Rome, 1959", my eyes were strongly drawn to the face of the man in the top right, just above the picture frame. My attention was held there so strongly that it took me a few minutes to notice the unframed artwork on the bottom of the image. Somehow, all the lines in picture draw you in to one spot.

I also liked "Street Scene, New York, 1958". (I hope that's the only one with that title. The book does not have page numbers.) It is clearly a photo, but it looks like a painting. Almost all in shades of blue, and far from in focus, there is a little area that is in focus that makes me wonder just how this shot was even taken, since this was done long before photoshop.

Many of the other images are combinations of reflections and reality. For a while, I had fun trying to figure out where all the reflections were, but then I just enjoyed the abstractness.

Thanks for pointing out this great book.

[Carsten Bockermann]

The one good news I have about the book is that Steidl sent me one only a few days after I had ordered.

Carsten

[Robert P]

" I don't know why the publisher wouldn't just print more, but maybe they're afraid of saturating the market and getting stuck with large numbers of copies."

Steidl only have one press, and it is pretty booked up I believe.

[David]

It has been fun watching it on amazon.jp (Japan) too. I believe it was at around 4-5000 yen when you first posted about it, then the price increased---I want to say to over 12,000, but I am not sure if I remember correctly, then it became unavailable. Now it is six copies are once again available at　￥7,193.

I wonder if you have so may visitors/fans here too, that there was a run on these books.

[Mike J.]

David,
I doubt very much any of this is due to me and TOP! I think there's just a lot of demand and not much supply.

Mike J.

[John McLaughlin]

On Mikes initial heads up, I ordered this from Steidl, and had it in my hands about 3 days later (despite the postman leaving the package on the kitchen window - just as it was starting to rain!)

It's a really beautiful little book, both in terms of print quality, and the actual content. Most of these photos fly completely in the face of accepted photographic excellence, and would be slated at your average camera club critique (this one's out of focus, has a weird colour cast, and the photographer inexplicably didn't notice that 80% of his field of view was obscured by a board), but are utterly compelling. I had the good fortune to see the exhibition in Paris last spring, and have been yearning for the book since.

My advice, if you love unique images, and top quality photo books. Then pounce on this while you have the chance!

John

[Mark]

It took me ages to get one of these from Amazon in the UK (and that was after a long wait for Boarders to get one in). All I can say is that it's well worth the wait !