Reflections in a Glass Eye: Works from the International Center of Photography Collection

Handy, Ellen (Introduction by); Hollander, Anne, and Johnson, Diane, and Lauterbach, Ann, and Simic, Charles (Essays by) and Hartshorn, Willis E. (Preface by)

ISBN 10: 0821226258 / ISBN 13: 9780821226254

Published by Little, Brown and Company; A Bullfinch Press Book in association with the International Center of Photography, Boston, New York, London, 1999

About this Item

Cloth, 232 pages, illustrations (some colour); 32 cm. Near fine. Firm binding, clean inside copy. Age toning. Stated First edition. Dust jacket with light shelfwear. OVERSIZE! Additional shipping charges may be requested for international & priority orders. Profusely illustrated. *** CONTENTS: Preface, by Willis E. Hartshorn; The anatomy, philosophy, and history of a collection of photographs, by Ellen Handy; About seeing; Still life, by Ann Lauterbach; Fashion and style, by Anne Hollander; Interiors, by Diane Johnson; Cities and urban encounters; Landscapes; War and disaster; Everyday life; Verbal image, by Charles Simic; Portraits; Biographies of photographers. Size: Folio.

Seller Inventory # 108021

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Reflections in a Glass Eye: Works from the International Center of Photography Collection
• Publisher: Little, Brown and Company; A Bullfinch Press Book in association with the International Center of Photography, Boston, New York, London
• Publication Date: 1999
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0821226258
• ISBN 13: 9780821226254
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: 1st.
• Condition: Near Fine
• Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good
• Seller catalogs:
  • Photography::Collections, Catalogues, Exhibitions
  • Museums
  • XXXL: Jumbo

About this title

Synopsis

A stunning celebration of the artistry and diversity of the photographic medium showcases the talents of Margaret Bourke-White, Richard Avedon, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Irving Penn, Cindy Sherman, and other remarkable photographers. 12,500 first printing.

Review

This nourishing book spans the incomparable collection of the International Center of Photography (ICP), the organization founded in New York City in 1974 by Cornell Capa in memory of his brother, Robert, the documentary photographer who was killed in Vietnam. Capa used the term "concerned photography" at the time, to distinguish the ICP's interests from fine-art photography, but the center has since become an umbrella organization for all types of photographic activity and all manner of photography, including anonymous antique prints and fashion photography. This book, which commemorates its 25th anniversary, contains an introduction by ICP curator Ellen Handy and four essays by such perspicacious writers as Diane Johnson and Charles Simic. It also offers thumbnail biographies of the makers of the 145 duotones and 30 color photographs reproduced here. Few of the photographers are represented by their most familiar prints, so there are surprises on nearly every page. There is a sweetly pensive portrait of actress Kim Novak by the often creepy Duane Michals, for example. And while Lisa Fonssagrives, the stunning 1960s fashion model, appears in at least one photograph, it isn't by Irving Penn, her husband and Vogue collaborator, whose work is instead represented by a blurry, subtly alarming photograph of Moroccan children running through an empty alleyway. There are some painfully familiar works, however, such as Yasushi Nagao's Assissination of Asanuma and Larry Clark's Naked teenagers injecting amphetamines. The book has one flaw: the table of contents lists only the general rubrics of "Landscapes," "War and Disaster," and the like, and there is no index, so finding a particular photographer's work is not always easy. --Peggy Moorman