Light Years

Gibson, Ralph (Peter Weiermair, ed.)

Published by Edition Stemmle, Zurich Switzerland,, 1996

About this Item

Quarto hardcover; black boards with white spine titling, black endpapers; 199pp., monochrome illustrations. Very mild spotting to upper text block edges. Near fine otherwise in like black and white dustwrapper now professionally protected by superior non-adhesive polypropylene film. Postage quoted is for a standard format octavo book. Final charges may vary depending on size and weight. This volume presents the 92 most significant pictorial compositions of Ralph Gibson. His raw materials are the lines and shapes of seemingly mundane objects - a streetlamp, the back of a chair, a wine bottle, a human silhouette against the light. Based upon an unusual black-and-white technique, his photography is metaphorical rather than documentary. The contents of Gibson's pictures are difficult to grasp, often even mysterious. Some compositions seem characterized by unusual control, structure and clarity, while others are opulent, seductive and full of hidden meaning. Gibson celebrates what he sees. The human form is generalized far beyond the concrete-associative representational approach of portraiture. In deliberately overlooking the signs and props of specific locale, Gibson raises individual figures to an abstract level of human existence. His often fragmentary figures draw the viewer's attention to the design and composition of the pictorial details. The organic structure of such pictures clearly suggests that their origins are by no means random. With great precision and without sentimentality he succeeds in making his message comprehensible.

Seller Inventory # 93076

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Light Years
• Publisher: Edition Stemmle, Zurich Switzerland,
• Publication Date: 1996