South Southeast Postcards - Softcover

5

5 ratings by Goodreads

9780714841144: South Southeast Postcards

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0714841145 ISBN 13: 9780714841144

Publisher: Phaidon Press, 2001

'Above all, I feed on the colours of Asia: deep henna, hammered gold, curry and saffron, rich black lacquer and painted-over rot. As I reflect back on it, I see it was the vibrant colour of Asia that taught me to see and write in light.' In South Southeast Magnum photographer Steve McCurry presented the cream of his work – magical and powerful photographs from South and Southeast Asia. Now the best of these images have been translated into 50 postcards. The design of the cards mirrors the classic portfolio look of the book and they are packaged in a distinctive tin which is a work of art in its own right. The South Southeast images are an outstanding example of McCurry's use of colour and unique way of connecting with people – talents that have won him numerous photographic awards and assignments for National Geographic magazine. They provide a beautiful personal souvenir of his work and a great way to introduce it to others.

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Review:

If you ever wondered where the catwalk got its claws, then the portraits gathered in photographer Shoichi Aoki's book Fruits, from the streets of Harajuku in Tokyo, point the way to an extraordinarily imaginative and invariably stunning glut of mongrel fashion heists. A best-of collection from the fanzine of the same name, and published for the first time outside Japan, Fruits keeps its style clean: front-on, razor-sharp images, ranging from the deadpan to the manic, of the sharpest collages of sartorial influence that, usually, little money can buy. From off the peg to off the wall, kitsch to bitch, each person bears a combination and philosophy as distinctive as DNA. All shades of aesthetic are raided, with exquisite, scrupulous attention to detail. Punk is a favorite, as is, appropriately, Vivienne Westwood, alongside Milk and Jean-Paul Gaultier, and the occasional Comme des Gar�ons. Many of the outfits, though, are second-hand or self-assembly, such as a skirt drooping petals of men's silk ties, Wa-mono, when tradition Japanese clothes are topped with, say, an authentic bowler hat, EGL (elegant gothic Lolita), and a swathe of tartans, pinks, and turquoises. The most malleable feature, unsurprisingly, is hair, with dreadlocks, mohicans, back-combing, and crops dyed an irradiated spectrum. While the eye is drawn, obediently, to the mannequins, the background is often worth a look, either for the vending machines against which a number are shot, or the ubiquitous Gap store and bags, a constant reminder of the global mass market.

One enterprising man wears a genuine British paperboy's delivery bag, and, to pick but one profile, Princess, 18, is trying to be a doll and is currently preoccupied with body organs. Mmm. All the subjects are asked the source of their clothes, as well as their "point of fashion" and "current obsession." The scope for sociopsychological discussion is vast, particularly with the preponderance of infantilization, through dolls, bonnets, pop socks, and Barbie, but this is a joyous documentation of the innovative, celebrating the inspirational polytheism of street fashion, captured with provocative, political zeal. Best let the street cats prowl. --David Vincent

About the Author:

Steve McCurry was born in Philadelphia in 1950. After studying history and cinematography at Pennsylvania State University, he began working as a freelance photographer, gaining international recognition with his photo-reports on rebel-controlled Afghanistan prior to the Russian invasion in 1979. Since then his work has featured in National Geographic and many other magazines internationally, winning him numerous awards, including the Eisenstaedt Award in 1998. McCurry is a member of Magnum Photos and lives in New York City.

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