A Special Post Coming Up

I'm honored to report that very soon I'll be publishing a remembrance of the late Ray K. Metzker written for us by our friend Keith F. Davis of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, Missouri. Keith is one of the leading photography curators in America and has published a number of wonderful books, several of which are favorites of mine. He's one of the people I admire most in contemporary American photography. He knew Ray well, having authored Ray's last major published retrospective, The Photographs of Ray K. Metzker.

Something to look forward to.

Mike

Original contents copyright 2014 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:

AdamR: "Really looking forward to hearing from Mr. Davis. I picked up the book when you recommended. I'd never heard of Ray K. Metzker but it has become my favorite book in my (admittedly very small) collection. I also live in KC and enjoy going to Nelson Atkins so this one is a double win for me!"

Comments

[Ryan]

Mike,

That Ray Metzker book you mentioned is outstanding. I also recommend an earlier Steidl book called Light Lines.

It's hard to grasp all of his work because it is so deep and varied but I really felt an affinity with his street-ish and urban-landscape photos, especially the ones incorporating car reflections.

I only learned of Metzker a couple years ago when I saw his "Philadelphia, 1964" -- a famous shot of a man in silhouette on a sun-dappled street -- in an Aperture Gallery exhibit, but since then I've felt a strong connection to his way of seeing.

Sad that I didn't have an opportunity to meet him and express my admiration.

[Kevin Purcell]

Question for Keith F. Davis of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art:

Does Yale University Press intend to reprint the The Photographs of Ray K. Metzker?

http://yalepress.yale.edu/book.asp?isbn=9780300171051

Inquiring but poor minds want to know.

Prices have gone silly in the used book market and some of us missed out the first time around.