The Unboxing!

So, before we start, care to guess what this is? Take a sec. Bet you can't....

Click past the break to see more.

(Camera provided for scale, as usual.)

This is beyond a doubt the most lavish Bruce Davidson monograph that ever has been made and that ever will be made. It comes to me (and hence to you), compliments of a generous donation to the "tip jar" from longtime loyal TOP reader Bryce Lee. (All together now: Thanks, Bryce!) And I got it because Ken Tanaka told me about it in Chicago. (Thanks to Ken, too.)

Although notionally "expensive"—here's the U.S. link and here's the U.K. one—it's also just incredibly inexpensive. It's more than I'd normally spend on "a" book, but it costs far less than you would imagine for a set this sumptuous—three volumes, a stout, beautifully made slipcase embossed with the title, 944 pages of high-quality paper, and 800 very good, generously sized reproductions. (Not to mention all that packaging, which gave me the idea of making a modest contribution to the curious new "unboxing" genre.) I can't see how they can produce this for $146, much less sell it for that.

As you might know, Steidl is a volatile publisher. Predicting future availability from them is like predicting earthquakes. I've been wrong before. Nevertheless, I think it's fair to say that if you have any special affection for the work of Bruce Davidson, you had better nab this set while you can. I can't say I'm predicting the future. Just don't say I didn't warn you.

Mike

ADDENDUM from Ken T.: I am delighted that you were able to get this, Mike, and that you find it as wonderful as I did. I'm saving mine for a cold, wet, gray autumn afternoon when I can dive right in and not come up for air for hours. (Although, yes, I've peeked already. It's really a luscious publication.)

I am also so happy for Bruce Davidson being able to produce this wonderful distillation of his life's work. He's really my kind of guy, having met him briefly a few years ago. He walks softly but carries a sharp lens.

(Hey, I also smiled to see a Canonet on the shelf! One of my summer projects has been to rehab one, installing new light seals and cleaning / adjusting the rangefinder. I'm not really a hobby-horse but it seemed like, and was, fun. Running the first roll through it now.)

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Original contents copyright 2010 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved.

Featured Comment by Craig C.: "Apropos of absolutely nothing, I have been struck that in the past two days there have been two references on TOP to the Canon Canonet (by Ctein and Ken T.) as well as a photograph of one sitting on Mike's new bookshelf. The Canonet that sits on the shelf of my own photography library caught the eye of my eight-year-old son only yesterday, and he has been walking around the house snapping that quiet shutter ever since.

"I purchased my Canonet on Ebay a few years back for about $60. I had long wanted to experience photographing with a rangefinder and had read a review that lauded the Canonet as an inexpensive but high quality way to do so. I was not disappointed.

"The lens was indeed sharp (and fast), and I found the shutter quieter and the body more comfortable to hold than the Leica M6 that was then current (and which, for the record, I had only held for about a minute in a local camera shop). I got some really fine photographs with that little camera, and just had fun using it, until the shutter began to stick and I found myself wasting more and more frames of film.

"Not being a tinkerer like Ken and Ctein, and not being willing to shell out more than the purchase price to have the shutter repaired, I placed the Canonet on a shelf and soon made my transition to digital. But I could not bring myself to part with the camera. It serves as a reminder that photography can be enjoyed simply and quietly and without much kit. And frankly, I just like to pick it up now and again, enjoy the way it sits in my hand, and remember a different way of making pictures.

"How different? Well, when my son picked it up he asked if it used electricity and was shocked when I told him that no picture showed up anywhere on the camera after the shutter was released. But rather than being scared off by this dinosaur of technology, he just looked at me with a twinkle in his eye and said that it would be cool if we could put some film in it so he could take some pictures. That's my boy!"

Featured Comment by James McDermott: "Mike, When we donate, it's for you to buy value-brand baked beans, single-ply toilet tissue and the occasional tube of mosquito ointment (ahhh, Wisconsin)—not to fill spaces in your book press. It'll be bed linen next."

Featured Comment by Boglev: "I bought this monograph from Amazon almost a month ago. Beautiful, beautiful pictures in it. And, it is a must for whoever appreciates an exceptional photograph, and there are three books packed with them in the collection."

Featured Comment by Matt Weber: "Hi Mike, I lived right down the block from Bruce for 28 years and met him a few times. The thing that impressed me the most is that at his age, he still starts almost every day at 5 a.m. in his darkroom. He is obviously a very accomplished printer and still does all of the archival printing for galleries himself! He is a soft spoken man and deserves this treatment of his life's work...I wish I could afford to buy this set of books."

Featured Comment by Ari: "Mike, are you able to compare the printing and reproduction between individual pictures in this set against the same picture in older publications? I ask, because I noticed significant differences in the way the photos looked in the (relatively) recent reissue of East 100th Street vs. the first edition. I had the opportunity a few years back to attend a lecture and book signing with Davidson at the ICP in New York City. I asked him about it while he was signing my copies of both the old and new editions. He told me that he'd reprinted all the images for the new book, and his style had changed to a more 'open' look. (He flipped through the two editions and pointed out a couple of the more obvious examples.) So a different look to new publications of older work is not always due to reproduction fidelity or printing technology."

Comments

[toto]

It says so right on the box - Bruce Davidson, Outside Inside. Of course I had to magnify it quite a bit :)

[Mike Johnston]

toto,
I admit I burned it down so you'd have trouble seeing it. [g]

Mike

[Scott]

Yeah, nice unboxing shots. (Especially the second image). Now if it was only a video on youtube...

[scott kirkpatrick]

Ahh, donations. I can't think of a better way to do that than by immediately clicking the provided links and filling the skies with books on their way to me. Mike, using the results for two-ply toilet tissue or even eBay lenses for cameras you hope to have someday is just fine with me. Go for it!

scott

[ctein]

Dear Mike,

Is the repro quality as luxurious as the production quality?

If it is, I may have to succumb.

pax / Ctein

[ted]

Thanks, Bryce!

[olli]

Hi Mike. Nothing to do with your post but as a long time reader can I just say how much I appreciate the fact that you include links to UK Amazon and other sites in your posts.

I know it's a small detail but as a Brit (and also Irish but currently domiciled in the Caucasus) I appreciate it.

[David Nicol]

I guess it's still no guarantee, but the Steidl website does say there's a 2nd edition due in October.

[John MacKechnie]

OMG that's beautiful. Hell, I'd display the box as well.

Played the first box guessing game, I first thought darkroom, then computer, then iPad. Wrong on all counts. Your surprise was even better.

As for bookshelf cameras, I've got my beloved, dead OM-4 up there along with some other interesting bits that I've picked up at auctions and the occasional garage sale. They make for great dusting. Most people don't notice them, but I do on a daily basis.

[Nick]

I would really, really, REALLY like to have this set, but I'm saving for a new computer. So I started looking through my books if I could part with one... Anybody interested in a mint copy of Minor White's 'Eye Mind Spirit'!?

[B. K.]

Ha! Mine should be arriving today or Monday... Can't wait! It's been supposedly coming out for half a year now, so when I finally saw it available, I was thrilled.

[Bryce Lee in Burlington, Ontario Canada, eh?]

The previous donation to Mike ended up as a sneakers for his growing son. I never advise the recipient as to the use of the donation.

Printed material is permance be it written or photographic images. I approve.

[Mikal W. Grass]

Mike,

Just to let you know that early this week,I should be receiving a 5x7 silver print of the the two young girls conversing by a river, under an umbrella, by Animesh Ray. I can't wait. In exchange, I will be sending him 4 rolls of K64.

Animesh's story of how he got into photography is quite interesting, and one that I think the readers of this forum will find quite compelling and probably a bit familiar.

On another note, I will probably get the Davidson book in the near future.

Thank you for being the information hub for the world of photography.

[John A. Stewart]

Little film cameras; right now my 23 year old daughter has an Olympus Trip, my 20 year old a Yachica 35ME, and I have an Olympus 35RC.

I hate to say it, but my Leica M8 with a couple of really expensive lenses is sitting, while my family are shooting with cameras that cost a total of $3.99 from thrift shops and donations from an acquaintance.

Both daughters think film is neat, and the younger is enrolled in a B&W film course at the local school of photographic arts. The darkroom at home is finished, and functioning well.

Yes, film is more intrusive on one's time than digital. Film is not so immediate. Film is a physical medium - there is a tactile joy to handling it. There are only 36 "clicks" in the camera.

Is there a lesson here somewhere? I don't know, I'm trying to figure it out myself.

[Matt Weber]

Hi Mike,
I lived right down the block from Bruce for 28 years and met him a few times. The thing that impressed me the most is that at his age, he still starts almost every day at 5 am in his darkroom. He is obviously a very accomplished printer and still does all of the archival printing for galleries himself! He is a soft spoken man and deserves this treatment of his life's work...I wish I could afford to buy this set of books.

[Keith Loh]

I think any time someone buys a camera because they were seduced by the Online Photographer's campaign of references they should put something in Mike's cookie jar. It's only fair. It's like commission.

[Rob Atkins]

The bookcase is filling up, Mike. Hope the builder kept the plans.

Enjoy the new books.

[Chuck Albertson]

Prompted me to finally order a copy, and that also finalized the order for a copy of "The Suburbs" (the CD, not a photo book) that I'd forgotten was in my shopping cart. The CD had dropped in price since I stuck it in the cart a few days ago, so you saved me five bucks. Thanks, Mike!

[John R. Fulton Jr.]

That's it. Thanks for the note on Bruce's new book. I need to catch up on Bruce a bit and this book is it. I took a workshop (well started) from Bruce in 1972 - Apeiron Workshops in Millerton NY. He was starving for work at the time and he had to take an assignment in NY to photograph a baseball game (yeah, go figure). He said he'd sit in the seats with a long lens. No big deal. 'Had to leave the workshop. Before he left he signed a hardbound East 100th Street to me. He was a good teacher and a swell guy. Charles Harbutt taught the rest of the workshop. Anyway, I've sort of picked up his books but not every one. So, this would be a good catch-up book(s).

[Mike Johnston]

Ctein,
I would give the repro quality an A-/B+. Not the absolute best I've seen, but above average and well above "serviceable."

I suspect what I'm reacting to as I say that is in part a matter of taste, because I've started to notice certain characteristics to the repro in Steidl books, and I suspect they get it the way THEY want it and their taste just differs slightly from mine--like one music listener preferring a solid state amp and another a tube amp, know what I mean? Your mileage could vary from my A-/B+ judgment, but, I would guess, not by much.

Mike

[kirk tuck]

Mike, thank you for the blog. You've introduced me to so many hidden treasures in the last few years. I really appreciate it.

Kirk

[Andre]

And here I thought you finally ponied up for a Sony Alpha 850...

[Ctein]

Dear Mike,

I can live with that.

I'd not spend $150 on an Ansel Adams book that didn't have A+ repro-- too much of what makes his photographs work requires that. Looking at lesser repro of Adams' work is a lot like listening to Brubeck on AM radio.

Bruce's work, while deserving of the very best repro, is still well-represented by merely-very-good repro.

pax / Ctein

[Maggie Osterberg]

Dang it, another book (or set of books, to be precise) that I'm lusting after! I swear, I will acquire the big Sander box set before I go chasing after this latest one.

Also, let me share in the Canonet love!! this photo was taken with this camera, with which I pretty much did Mike's one camera-one-lens-one film (the film was from the giant brick of Tri-X Dad had in our chest freezer) project when I was thirteen. It wasn't a Leica, but it was close enough for Craig, Nebraska in 1977.

[Mário Pires]

Glad to see "Lisboa Alegre e Triste" on you bookshelf :)