Monday 28 February 2011

Jonathan Safran Foer - Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close: A Novel

 This book is a limited edition version of Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close: A Novel by Jonathan Safran Foer. This is the only version of the book I have seen, so have no idea how it differs from the regular trade edition.
 It is signed and numbered in an edition of 1000. Like the more recent Tree of Codes it plays with the traditional concept of book design, using a variety of typographical tricks, colour and pictures to redefine the novel.
 It seems quite difficult to track down much information about this edition. The ISBN 0140912789 only brings up a couple of sellers on abe books with a google search. I have a feeling this was only available via Waterstone's booksellers on release. There are a couple of sellers here who mention it being a signed and slipcased edition of 1000, so I would guess they are the same thing - starting at £40.



Saturday 26 February 2011

Portrait of Marquise de Pompadour in gold.

Another of my paper sculptures 'Portrait of Marquise de Pompadour in gold' is a reinterpretation of the Bouchard painting. The trees were hand cut from paper, then finished with Palladium leaf, the book and sun have been gold leafed. I have a blank greeting card with this image available for purchase here.

Monday 21 February 2011

The Ruins of Detroit by Yves Marchand and Romain Meffre

The Ruins of Detroit by Yves Marchand and Romain Meffre is a fantastic new photobook from Steidl.
I have been seeing some of these images around the web for  a while now and have been amazed and intrigued by both the decay of a once great city and the marvellous photography on show. The book has been available since December 2010 and until now I had been out off purchasing by the apparent high price. However a few days ago I was browsing the book on the Steidl website and saw the magic words 'sold out'!
I ordered a copy there and then, the book arrived this morning and it is worth every penny. It is huge and the quality of the reproductions is very impressive. 
 As I said earlier this book is sold out with the publisher, buy a copy now! If you are in the US you can get it for a great price here, if you are in the UK you can get it for a not quite so great price here.


Saturday 19 February 2011

John Stezaker - Rubell Family Collection by Mark Coetzee

 Rubell Family Collection is a nicely produced hardcover book of John Stezaker's photomontage work. It includes full colour images from the Masks, Film Portraits and Untitled series as well as many others.
 Like many books about Stezaker this now seems pretty scarce. There is currently a slightly damaged copy available for sale here for £50, or you can get some here starting at $398.75!


Monday 14 February 2011

Glen Luchford by Glen Luchford

 This is the only book focusing on the work of fashion photographer Glen Luchford. Published by Steidl it has their usual very high production values.
 I only knew Luchford's work with Jenny Saville on the Closed Contact project which impressed me very much, so I bought this book on it's release in 2009 to see more. It has since sold out and prices have rocketed recently, the cheapest I can find it online currently is $350 and as high as £386.63. More pictures below.





Tuesday 8 February 2011

Broken Manual Special Edition by Alec Soth and Lester B. Morrison

 Having been part of the display in Soth's show at the Walker Art Center my copy of this special edition has just arrived today!
 The book is bound in a carved out section of an old large book, each is different, mine is in a copy of David O. Selznick's Hollywood. Absolutely love the way the book is hidden behind the gatefold of cinema curtains at the beginning of the book, this kind of attention to detail is continued throughout.

 Underneath the copy of Broken Manual there is hidden a Liberation Billfold Manifest, which in turn hides a family photograph with the father's head scratched out. This is also where the book case is signed and numbered.

 Inside the Broken Manual there is a 10x8 print, signed and numbered on the back by Soth and Morrison.

And finally the back cover is stamped, signed and numbered by Soth.
 The book literally only arrived an hour ago so I have not had time to fully absorb it yet, this is quite a rarity compared to some other photobooks, there is actually some real content here, rather than just a feast for the eyes.
 I ordered my copy of this as soon as it was announced, since then the price has doubled. Copies are still available from Steidl and Little Brown Mushroom for £600 €750 $950. These prices may seem high, but when compared to the increasing value of Soth's backlist it still looks good value to me.

Trine Søndergaard and Nicolai Howalt - How to Hunt

 How to Hunt is a recent photographic monograph by Trine Søndergaard and Nicolai Howalt published by Hatje Cantz Verlag. Some of the images are the same as included in the earlier Dying Birds released by Hassla Books in an edition of 500, you can still get that here for $22.
 How to Hunt is on a completely different scale to Dying Birds however. This book is large format hardback and the image reproduction is fantastic, the detail is amazing. Amazon are listing it at a pre-order price of $57.37, this seems very good value. If you can't wait until the end of February for your copy Amazon.co.uk have it in stock for £38.10.