Brett Weston: Big Deal

By Brett Weston

Great news—as a holiday present, and to kick off the brand-spanking-new Lodima Press home page, our friends Michael and Paula (you remember their print sale here last January) are offering for TOP readers a BIG discount on Lodima Press's wonderful series of Brett Weston monographs.

Each monograph looks like it might not be a very good value if you were comparison shopping with other books. They're paperbound, and they don't contain very many pictures—fifteen, give or take. But appearances are deceiving. Michael did his usual fanatically perfectionistic job with the printing of the images, making the printed page mimic Brett's original photographs far more closely than most printed images possibly can. The result are brief monographs showing actual-size pictures that are very close in their visual and artistic impression to Brett Weston's original photographic prints.

In other words, all the money was put into the printing.

As such, they're fairly priced. But at $54.95 to $69.95 each, they seemed expensive in absolute terms.

Until now, that is. Until December 21st, for TOP readers, they're only $30 each. And if all ten volumes of the projected nineteen-volume set published to date are purchased with this sale, the price is only $25 each.

Go to the new Lodima Press page, Lodima.org, and click on "Book Sale" at the bottom of the page. Then use coupon code TOP2013 for your purchase. I believe you can only enter the coupon code once (not sure, and I can't check it), so, just to be safe, be sure to finish loading your cart before entering the coupon code.

(Many other Lodima titles are priced at 50% off during this sale as well—a particular longtime favorite of mine is Paula's High Plains Farm, for the next five days only $39, a steal.)

I have all of these and they're absolutely lovely, a great way to enjoy Brett Weston's wonderful work.

Mike

Original contents copyright 2013 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site.

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(To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.)
Featured Comments from:

Jim Weekes: "Mike, You have done it again. I ordered three of the Westons, a Robert Adams and the Eric Lindbloom. You do lead me unto temptation. But at those prices and with their quality I could not resist. Thank you."

Mike replies: 'S true. But I only lead you into good temptations, not bad ones. :-)

MM: "Buyers of the Brett Weston volumes (and I'm likely to be one) should be aware that Brett often wasn't big on retaining shadow detail the way that other West Coast photographers of the era usually were (including his father Edward). He tended to use the shadowed/silhouetted areas in his photos as negative space to form powerful, solid shapes that make a counterforce to lighter shapes, not as areas to be 'looked into' for subtle detail. The effect works for me and other fans of his, but those unfamiliar with Brett's work may at first think the printer used too much contrast and the shadows blocked up. I think book printers in the past had trouble printing Brett's photos—Dave Gardner (for years the printer of Ansel's books) being a notable exception, because he wasn't afraid to really 'lay on the black'—so it's a great thing that Lodima is going back to print these masterworks. Kind of like a great violinist issuing a fresh new recording of classical masterpieces...."

Fred: "I saw this post and based on Mike's recommendation took the plunge for the Weston set. I'm aware that the publishers are fine art photographers that contact print 8x10 and larger so I figured their affinity for the finer points of printing would also characterize their publishing. I placed the order using regular UPS ground for shipping and was pleasantly surprised when the order was packed and shipped the same day. I was even more surprised when the order showed up on my doorstep today, only a day after I placed the order. They are finely crafted books with wonderfully rich printing and a nice afterword in each edition and an introduction in some. This was a good buy. Highly recommended."

Comments

[James Sinks]

Given how much I just spent, I sincerely hope they're as good as you make out...

[Bob Smith]

Gadzooks! Down for the whole set. Geez, the deals just keep rolling in on this site.

Speaking of which, I received my Turnley prints. Absolutely stunning, all my other purchased B&W prints look like blah compared to them print quality wise.

The bridge/sailboat shot at first really didn't do anything for me but I purchased it because I wanted the full set offered. It looked better in be book but seen in person there are so many things in it that are quietly there. Amazing.

[Tom Hassler]

Thanks, Mike, here's another fine mess you've gotten me into. Err, I mean, more wonderful books to add to the collection (and explain to my wife!) Seriously, she always loves them too. I'm gonna need more shelf space...

[Hendrik]

Mike, your writing "Michael did his usual fanatically perfectionistic job with the printing of the images" makes it sound like he did personally print them, as I seem to remember he did with the print sale. But they are printed in Belgium at Salto--no bad address for sure--, about a 100m from where I am, then bulk shipped to the US, and when I'd order them back to Europe the shipping would all but eat up the discount. I put together a cart of 5 books and can actually get them slightly cheaper, i.e. very expensive, from Amazon.de. Shame really.

[David]

I own one of these books and have seen others. They are, indeed, as good as Mike says. I'll probably buy another one or two.

David

[Michael Carl]

Mike, As someone who jumped on the Edward Weston book deal from Lodima for TOP readers some months ago I was very excited when I received their email. I do not have a Brett Weston book in my library and this was a great opportunity to rectify that. I haven't received the books yet but when I do I will post a short review.

[Mark Matheny]

Thank you Mike, Japan is on it's way.

[Richard]

Thanks Mike Just ordered Brett Weston - San Francisco and George Tice - Common Momentos

[David Silva]

Thanks very much, that is an astounding price for the 10 volume set, and I couldn't resist...

Happy Holidays....

[scott kirkpatrick]

I know how good they are (having purchased their Emmet Gowin book previously). I can't believe how much I just saved at roughly 50% off.

scott

[Tom Kwas]

I salute anyone putting 'fanatical perfection' into the printing process today. I love 'real' books, and would buy the most expensive and deluxe books I could if I had any money...it seems sad when printing is truly reaching the state of the art, that it's falling out of favor...I have a buddy on the coast who is an absolute fanatic about baseball; he recently bought a luscious baseball book about the size of a poster and about two inches thick, he contracted with a custom carpenter to make a reading/storage stand for it!

[Marco Maroccolo]

Beautiful prints, unfortunately shipping costs outside the U.S. a bit expensive...

[James Sinks]

Well, yesterday I ordered all the Brett Weston books and Lindbloom's Saltgrass. They were delivered today. They were packed exceptionally well, in a properly sized cardboard box (~1" extra space all around and closure flaps that meet completely). with a home-made double wall, packing peanuts on the top and bottom, and the books carefully wrapped in plastic. I've made my living doing mail order, and I'm rarely impressed with packing and delivery times, but Lodima did an exceptional job.

Re: the books themselves, the Westons are beautifully bound and printed. The pictures are rich, crisp, and have a depth that honestly makes them look like photographic prints. They're also nicely sized, and not weighed down with useless text. The paper is nice, thick, and holds the ink well. I haven't read the fore- or afterwards (and probably never will), but the typography looked nice as I flipped past them.

The covers are delightfully tactile and feel good in the hand. My copy of #1 is a little flawed--binding coming unstitched and an ink smudge--but the others are all immaculate.

Eric Lindbloom's Salt Grass is a different story though. It's a smallish book, the photos are very small, and they all seem a little soft. The images on the website are crisp and tactile, whereas in the book they just lack that presence and immediacy. Nice photos and nice tonality, but I found myself wishing for a set of full-screen jpegs instead. The cover is also a smoother, lighter, much less pleasant stock than the Westons. It just doesn't feel good in the hand. My copy is also slightly marred--not enough to warrant a replacement, but enough to be noticeable.

Overall, I'm quite impressed, and I'm hopeful that Lodima will be accommodating regarding replacement for the damaged Weston, when I've sent them a couple photos.

I also bought a used copy of Chiarenza's Solitudes from Amazon, and I'm quite looking forward to its arrival.

[Dennis]

FWIW there's a fine Brett Weston exhibit in NYC at 1285 Ave. of the America's (better known as 6th Ave.) in the lobby of the UBS building thru Jan. 10. It's called "City of Abstractions-Brett Weston in New York, 1944-45".
Many fabulous prints on view for free!