Books for What Ails You

Reviewed by Geoff Wittig

There are lots of really interesting photo books out these days; these two might not appeal to everyone, but maybe you will like one or the other.

TruthBeauty: Pictorialism and the Photograph as Art, 1845–1945
Hardcover: 160 pages
Publisher: Douglas & McIntyre (Sept. 2008)
10.9 x 9.3 inches

$60 ($37.80 at Amazon U.S.)

-       (£37.32 at Amazon U.K.)

This relatively compact volume is the catalog for the traveling exhibition, a joint project of George Eastman House and the Vancouver Art Gallery (VAG). You'd have a hard time finding a better brief summary of pictorialism as a movement within photography. The exhibition includes prints from numerous collections, including the Museum of Modern Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and private collectors.

The first chapter following a series of plates is a perceptive essay by Eastman House curator Alison Nordström and archivist David Wooters that nicely summarizes pictorialism and its place in both photography and the broader world of representational art. Subsequent chapters discuss pictorialism in Japan, Australia and the Czech lands. There is also a sampling of the writings of prominent pictorialists.

The reproduction quality of the included images is quite good, given the obvious difficulty of emulating numerous different types of print. The paper stock is a smooth coated off-white, and reproductions are very nicely toned to match the widely varying 'colors' of the various monochrome prints in the exhibition. My only gripe is that the actual print form is listed in an appendix, rather than in the caption beneath each plate; you have to go to the back of the book to find out that Alvin Langdon Coburn's "Fifth Avenue from the St. Regis" is a platinum print.

The exhibition is currently at George Eastman House in Rochester, New York, through May 31st. By all means see it if you're in the area. After several visits I can attest to the fidelity of the book's plates, though they are no substitute for seeing the actual prints. The largest portion of the works are platinum prints, though there are also a goodly number of silver gelatin and gum/bichromate prints, with a smattering of less common forms like bromoil. Some are printed on heavily textured paper for graphic effect, which is impossible to reproduce in book form. 

-

House Calls with William Carlos
Williams, M.D.
Hardcover: 106 pages
Publisher: powerHouse Books (Sept. 2008)
8.3 x 6.5 inches

$29.95 ($21.86 at Amazon U.S.)

£19.99 (£13.19 at Amazon U.K.)

This little book is a brief account of the experience of then-medical student Robert Coles (now a leading child psychiatrist and sociologist and prolific author) going on house calls with the great physician and poet William Carlos Williams in the early 1950s. It includes some of Williams' poems. The book is beautifully illustrated with black & white photographs taken in 2006–2007 by Thomas Roma. The photographs show the still-standing New Jersey homes and buildings visited by Coles and Williams more than a half century ago. It's a modest tome, but the photographs show much of the same subtle grace and shabby grandeur displayed by George Tice's images of the same area.

I'm a rural family doctor who still makes house calls, occasionally with medical students, and this book simply nails it. It gets the sense of community, the knowing nods from the neighbors when you visit a sick octagenarian, the terror and promise for the young student. Simply a lovely little tome. You may be able to discern from the scanned cover image that my copy has been well thumbed.

Geoff

Send this post to a friend

Comments

[Doug]

I was able to attend the Truth/Beauty exhibit in Vancouver and it was worthwhile. The chance to see famous images, numerous alt-processes and how well these photographers handled their subjects was very valuable.

On one of the occasions that I visited, I bumped into a local photographer who had only ever worked digitally. He was impressed by the built images and how well they were executed.

[WeeDram]

I will be going to the GEH exhibit soon; really looking forward to it.

[McGonigal]

I saw the Truth Beauty show in Vancouver and also bought the book. It opened my eyes to the exquisite (and astonishingly modern) artistic sensitivities these early photographers possessed. Unfortunately, the book is not a complete catalogue of the show, and some of my favourite pieces were not included. My own photography has been clearly influenced by this show.