Robert Polidori: Havana - Hardcover

Rodriguez, Eduardo Luis

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 3882433337 ISBN 13: 9783882433333

Publisher: Steidl, 2001

Synopsis

Robert Polidori, often considered an architectural photographer, is in fact a photographer of habitat. On the surface his subjects are buildings, but at the core his lens is focused on the remnants and traces of living he finds scattered in hallways, left in back rooms and worn on facades. His spectacular color photographs are presented here in an appropriately oversized volume that capture both their monumentality and their attention to detail. Havana is a particularly rich setting for Polidori's inquiries. The curves and columns that line the streets refer to past eras and speak of the political, social and economic forces that have driven the city to its present condition. Through his rigorous and sensitive examination--facilitated by a sense of color and composition that makes his photographs feel like vivid memories--Polidori delicately peels away the patina of daily living and reveals the juxtapositions that create a city's identity. His photographs define the idea of faded grandeur. In this city the peddler lives where the countess once resided; children dance and tumble where merchants conducted their business. Each photograph is a discovery and a fragment of the city's biography.

About this title

Review:

Robert Polidori's Havana is a haunting city of sherbet colors and peeling stucco, grand colonial architecture in decay, and real people who hang their laundry across a lofty foyer in an old mansion. Polidori's photographs, which fill the pages of this beautiful, oversized book, appear without comment, yet it is impossible to miss the affection and melancholy of his highly personal vision.

About the Author:

Elizabeth Culbert is a New York-based art historian.

About this edition

• Publisher: Steidl
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 3882433337
• ISBN 13: 9783882433333
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 160
• Editor: Culbert Elizabeth