The PBS Photobook News Hour (featuring Elton John)

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Alex Benjamin

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Title is in jest, of course. Was watching The PBS News Hour, when this guy from Stanford comes up, talking about climate change. Quite interesting, but then I noticed the books on the bookshelves behind him: one about Sally Mann, Salgado's Workers, and one new to me, titled The Radical Eye. Had to look it up. Turns out it's a book about Elton John's private photo collection—and there I did not know he was a collector!

Description from Amazon: "Sir Elton John, musician and philanthropist, has built one of the greatest private collections of photography in the world. This book presents an unparalleled selection of modernist images, which introduce a crucial moment in the history of photography when artists were beginning to use the camera and darkroom to redefine and transform visions of the modern world. Technological advancements gave artists the freedom to experiment and test the limits of the medium enabling new imaginings of portraits, nudes and still lifes; and street life and the modern world was captured from a new, uniquely modern perspective. Showcasing only original vintage prints by the artists themselves, the book features key figures from the 1920s to 1950s, such as Brassaï, André Kertész, Dorothea Lange, Tina Modotti, Man Ray, Edward Steichen and Alexander Rodchenko. Also includes a newly commissioned interview with Sir Elton John and essays on modernist photography and technology and innovation by Dawn Ades and Shoair Mavlian."

Anybody has it? Worth getting?
 
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Alex Benjamin

Alex Benjamin

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The Guardian has some images from his collection. There are some youtube videos. too. Apparently, it was a show.

Thanks Don. Looks like an interesting mix of "the usual suspects" — Migrant Mother, Man Ray's Glass Tears — with a bunch of rarely seen gems. Weston's portrait of Stravinsky — not as ingenious as Arnold Newman's but perhaps more honest — and Walker Evans' Christ or Chaos? were new to me.

I might get the book after all.

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Don_ih

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I might get the book after all.

Reading purchaser's reviews, some say the printing is good, some say it's bad. It's not a very expensive book, though.

Elton may have some of the only copies of some photos, so I wouldn't be surprised if there were many in that book that have been unseen by most people.
 
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Alex Benjamin

Alex Benjamin

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Reading purchaser's reviews, some say the printing is good, some say it's bad. It's not a very expensive book, though.

Elton may have some of the only copies of some photos, so I wouldn't be surprised if there were many in that book that have been unseen by most people.

I'm thinking it could make a great birthday, Christmas, etc., present. I have some friends and family members who are curious about photography and its history but don't know where to start. This seems like it could be a good intro, at least to early- and mi-20th century photography. Coming from someone with Elton John's clout — from a fan of photography rather than an art historian — helps.
 
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