The Andy Book: Bruce Weber

Published by Tokyo, Doeisha Co.

1987. 1st Edition (Softcover)

Condition: Good condition.

£350

Bruce Weber focused on small-town boxer Andy Minsker for this 1987 book, which was only published in Japan. Text is in English by Minsker himself, with a booklet containing the Japanese translation laid in.

Teenage Lust: Larry Clark

Published by Taka Ishii Gallery, Japan

1997 1st Edition (Softcover)

Condition: Very good condition.

£420

The essential Clark biography--raw, explicit, and controversial--is available again in a limited Japanese edition. Both praised and reviled, Clark's photographs of teenagers in Tulsa and New York City are the ultimate participant-observer document. Through words and images, Teenage Lust chronicles Clark's own descent into the world of speed shooters, prostitutes, and criminals, and his ultimate incarceration.

Tokyo Lucky Hole: Nobuyoshi Araki

Ohta Shuppan

1990 1st Edition with obi band (Softcover)

Condition: Very good condition. Slight yellowing of pages.

£175

Tokyo Lucky Hole is a document of Akari's exploration of the Shinjuku sex trade during the 1980's, ranging from pole dancing clubs to more alternative sexual acts carried out in hotel rooms. Although a small book in format it contains a massive photo collection, the layout of the images is often four per page to create a sequence of the live acts being performed and establishes a narrative. All photo's are black and white, while interestingly any genitalia has been masked out with black shapes. This rare book is a thorough insight into an widely undocumented world.

Shuji Terayama: Terayama's Imaginary Phototheque: The People Of The Dog-God Family

Published by Yomiuri Shimbunsha

1975 with obi band (Hardback)

£380

Avant-garde filmmaker, playwright, and theater personality Shuji Terayama, along with his compatriots, literally saw the world as a performance space, thus even political protests became venues for staging theatrics. Terayama flouted conventions in all of his work, and his films contain much erotic content in reaction to the prudish nature of Japanese society. Photothèque Imaginaire presents staged controversial events that explore sexuality and traditional family values.

From Bertolotti's "Book of Nudes": "The photographs were reproduced in the manner of an old souvenir album…'as framed photos of staged portraits and' fake period postcards, with addresses and stamps in their proper place, and they were accompanied by a series of poems and handwritten annotations that emphasized the artist's intention of mixing expressive language with sophisticated photomontages."

Ipy Girl Ipy: Tad Wakamatsu

Heibon-sha

1970 (Softcover)

SOLD

A rare title that sees Japanese photographer Wakamatsu follow the Japanese model and actress Karuko Wanibuchi. The book is split into two parts, the first and main part documents Wanibuchi in 70's America in a variety of locations such as nude at a New York subway station. The end is completed with a short story of youth and old age surrounding a woman living in a fishing village played by Wanibuchi. The book contains a collection of dynamic black and white nude shots some printed onto translucent paper in deep black and layer beautifully with the printed pages they cover.

Joel Sternfeld: American Prospects

Published by Times Books

1987 (Hardcover)

Price £275

Condition: First edition. American. Good condition with slight peeling to laminate to bvack cover.

In this landmark volume, now available for the first time in paperback, Joel Sternfeld carries forward into the 1980s the passionate pursuit of Walker Evans in the 1930s and Robert Frank in the 1950s: a unique vision of culture, place, and character - an essence of America. First published in 1987 to great critical acclaim, Joel Sternfeld's startling visual chronicle is at once funny and despairing, ravishing and grim. His luxuriant landscapes are full of sly surprise and deadpan wit

Ishiuchi Miyako: Mother's

Published by Sokyu-Sha, Tokyo

2002 (Hardcover)

£350

Condition: SIGNED BY ISHUICHI MIYAKO. In perfect condition. In white card slipcase.

An intimate series of photographs; an under-dress, aging skin, lipsticks, a hairbrush. The artist’s mother had passed away before this evocative and sensitive tribute to her was made. The red cover is embossed with a shiny red lipstick and protected by a white cardboard slip case.

Facies Dolorosa. Das schmerzhafte Antlitz.

Published by Thieme, Leipzig

1934 (Hardcover)

SOLD

The first edition of Facies Dolorosa was printed using the collotype process and is extremely rare and expensive. Subsequent editions printed in half-tone are sometimes found, although still rare and valuable.

These portraits were seen as a scientific work of empirical observation; a theory Dr. Killian was propounding whereby the underlying diagnosis of a person's illness could be seen written in the tensions and expressions on their faces. In spite of being clinical in intent and approach, there is nevertheless an amazing terrible beauty in these faces. Shot close up and obliquely, the portraits resonate with an odd tension between the intimate and the dispassionate.

Still Crazy-nuclear power plants as seen in Japanese landscapes

Published by Korinsya Press

1994 (Hardcover)

Condition: Very Good with original Obi band.

£90

Born and raised by the seashore, the photographer observed the coastline that transformed along with Japan's rapid post-war economic growth. He captures, quite serenely, the nuclear power plants that appeared on the coasts of Japan and the transfiguration of countryside that came with it.
Are we to live forever with this edifice of convenience, or have we taken into hands something ungovernable? One thing for certain is that human beings and nuclear energy have become inseparable, and that we enjoy its benefit at all times.

As if a specimen, the power plants are labeled by the date they were photographed. These plants are to be dismantled in over 40 years.

This, nonetheless, is a typical scerery of modern Japan.

Yasuhiko Uchihara: Son of a BIT

Published by Seigensha, Kyoto

2005 (Softcover)

£70

Condition: First Edition. As new

Uchihara photographs Asian cities in a casual manner, from wide views to detail shots. Since it's publication Son of a BIT has gathered quite a reputaion.

Alessandra Sanguinetti: On the Sixth Day.

Published by Nazraeli Press

2005 (Hardcover)

£290

Condition: First Edition. As new

On the sixth day, as recounted in the Bible, God created the creatures of the earth, and man named them. Brilliantly titled in reference to that day, this monograph explores the complex relationship between man and domesticated animals. Sanguinetti’s photographs are absolutely gorgeous and compel the reader to witness the entire life and death cycle of the farm animals of her native Argentina.

Throughout, we see the weatherworn hands and threadbare clothing of the farmers at the edges of the photographs, metaphorically and literally surrounding the animals. Sanguinetti’s aesthetic and color palette draw attention to the beautiful forms of the animals, but she never lets us forget that these animals are captive—living and dying in service to man. Even in the images of the most adorable lambs she resists idealizing, showing them tied together or heading toward a larger herd, and ultimately toward death. In the most gruesome images of skinned animals and bloodied instruments, the photographs tend toward a religious interpretation whereby sacrificial animals serve as a vehicle for human redemption. Thus, without moralizing, Sanguinetti skillfully portrays the lives and deaths of domesticated animals as both a practical and ritual part of human existence.

Nein, Onkel: Snapshots from Another Front, 1938-1945

Published by Archive Press

2007 (Hardcover)

£100

Condition: First Edition. As new

Snapshots taken by German soldiers - a controversial book that has us questioning our assumptions of evil as it shows Nazis petting bunny rabbits, having parties, dressing up and generally larking around through Europe during the early few years of World War II when things were going well for the Third Reich. It left me wondering how it was possible that we had not seen pictures of this type from the German perspective before. Winner of 2008 Arles Historical Book Award.

Andy Sewel: The Heath

2011 (Hardcover)

£120

Condition: First Edition. Signed. As new.

Hampstead Heath was once part of the countryside surrounding London and is now a green fragment deep within the urban landscape. It is a place of ancient trees, tall grass and thickets dense enough to get lost in – if only briefly. I go to the Heath to be somewhere that feels natural, yet I know this is no pathless wood. The Heath is as managed as any other part of London but managed to feel wild.

In a way this project is about perceptions of what is natural, but it’s also an attempt to explore what EO Wilson called the human condition of “Biophilia”, being drawn to somewhere that feels natural without knowing why. Over the last five years I have spent many hours walking on the Heath. With this set of pictures I hope to convey something of what I was looking for and what I found.

Richard Cases: Paloma al aire

Published by Dewi Lewis Publishing

2011 (Hardcover)

£75

Condition: First Edition. As new

One of the highlights of this years Recontre des Arles Photography Festival, Ricardo Cases' Paloma Al Aire deals with an unusual subject: the practice of pigeon racing in the Spanish regions of Valencia and Murcia, a game consisting of releasing one female pigeon and dozens of male pigeons that chase her trying to get her attention. None of them ever gets too intimate, but the winner is the one that spends the most time close to her. The winner is not the most athletic, the toughest or the purest in breed but the more courteous, the one showing more constancy and having the strongest reproductive instinct.

Raising a male champion entails prestige and profits. Painted in a combination of primary colours, like a flag or a soccer kit, the male pigeon raised and trained to mate becomes a projection of the pigeon-keeper, who embodies its sportive, economic and sexual success or failure in the community. Far from the harsh reality of his daily life, the colombaire has a second life where he can get to the top. He just needs a champion pigeon. The pigeon-keeper stays on the ground, while his projection is able to fly.

Bertrand Fleuret: Landmasses and Railways

Published by J&L Books

2007 (Hardcover)

Condition:First Edition. As new

£30

A photograph of an image of a woman with a triangular slice where her eyes should be, a two-page aerial shot of a forest, a train coming straight at us: Bertrand Fleuret's artist's book Landmasses and Railways juxtaposes such enigmatic and striking black-and-white images to create a pleasantly unsettling, difficult-to-decipher narrative. Edited by photographer Jason Fulford, whose own influential publications are helping to define a new generation of photobooks, this exquisitely designed 200-page volume is dreamlike, taking us on a journey through rural and urban landscapes, construction and decay, chaos and clarity.

Todd Hido: A Road Divided

Published by Nazraeli Press

2010 (Hardcover)

£60

Condition: As new

A book of landscape photographs, A Road Divided, in which the artist again focuses his attention on the American landscape. Driving lonely roads on the outskirts of cities, Hido creates poignant images filled with inexplicable gravity, cinematic scenes of places that somehow exist in our collective memory. In these new pictures, Hido demonstrates his fluidity within the daytime realm, putting aside the harder edge that characterizes his night work by photographing through veils of rain or ice. Delicately, potently, embracing the beauty of the pictorial, Hido's new pictures present an image plane that is often fully disintegrated, recalling impressionist painting. With an unquestionably modern effect, he often frames the compositions from inside his car, photographing straight through the windshield, using it as an additional lens and bringing a sense of timing and moment to these stationary scenes.

Todd Hido: Between the Two

Published by Nazraeli Press

2006 (Hardcover)

£60

Condition: As new

Todd Hido’s striking monograph, Between the Two, weaves photographs of abandoned houses together with portraits of anonymous models in motel rooms that have obviously seen better days. Hido’s uncanny ability to let seediness shine with an internal beauty was first displayed in book form with his 2001 monograph, House Hunting. That first monograph, as well as his follow-up book Outskirts, are now out-of-print, and highly sought-after in the rare book market. Between the Two comprises 35 photographs beautifully printed on matte art paper, and bound in an oversized format.

Isolated Heros: Raf Simons

Antwerp

1999 (Hardcover)

SOLD

REQUEST TO RESERVE A COPY   

A legendary collaboration between Raf Simons and David Sims, for Simons Spring-Summer 2000 collection. Rather than use professional models, Sims subjects come from the street, the photographs transcend more traditional fashion photography, as they reach for a timeless quality, devoid of signs of the times or traces of trendiness and made the industry re-evaluate the dictum of beauty. This is a stunning work that deals with beauty, youth, masculinity and the perfect isolation of all these preoccupations.

Hareta Hi/ A Fine Day:
Shinoyama Kishin

1975 (Hardcover with original acetate jacket and slipcase)

£800

Condition: Very good. With the original accetate jacket and very rare publishers slipcase.

A classic book of Japanese colour photography and extremely scarce. It includes photographs taken within Japan during 1974. Subject matter varies between activities and personalities but are all connected with the extreme use of colour. A small collection of images included are taken in New York and are along a separate tangent featuring Yoko Ono. Book is bound in black leatherette with gold foil embossing and covered in a clear acetate jacket that is printed with white Japanese text.

Comme des Garcons 1975 -1982

Tokyo,

1982 (softcover)

SOLD

A rare publication featuring early work from Comme des Garcons and documents the momentous force in fashion history during a pivotal era. The book includes a compilation of some of their earliest seminal campaigns with contributions from Peter Lindbergh, Deborah Turbeville and Bruce Weber amongst others. Images have been printed full bleed and are largely black and white with a handful of colour images dotted throughout. Book condition is fine, clean inside and out, binding tight

Comme des Garcons 1981 – 1986

Tokyo, Chikuma Shobo Co. Ltd.

1986 (Hardcover)

£480

Comme des Garcon's 1981-1986, showcases beautifully, Rei Kawakubo's groundbreaking and innovative collections from this exciting early period in CDG's history. Stephen Meisel, Bruce Weber, Peter Lindbergh, and Hans Feurer amongst others, have contributed to this now seminal and elusive publication which documents a unique moment in fashion history. This large format hardback book is packaged in publisher"s printed slipcase and original obi band. Book is Fine, clean inside and out, binding tight.

Nippon Gekijo Shashincho (Japan- A Photo Theatre)
Daido Moriyama

Muromachi Shobo

1968 (softcover)

Text by Shunji Terayama

SOLD

Moriyama intermixes photographs from the Japanese folk world of performers such as the avant-garde performance troupe Tenjo Sajiki with photos of ordinary people in the same sequence, with the intention to display 'theatre as life and life as theatre'. The end of the book is completed with a separate selection of images of embryos in test tube that contrast the first part in subject matter and technique. All photos are in black and white and printed on a textured paper. Opening text is written by Shunji Terayama.

Les Amoureuses Du Temps Passe Deborah Turbeville

Parco, Tokyo

1989 (Softcover)

SOLD

This scarce book is a compilation of Deborah Turbeville's surreal photographs featuring work from the late seventies and eighties. The photographs included display Turbeville's aesthetic excellently and collectively appear like a dream like stream of consciousness. Included are many famous images from her work for Vogue and Comme des Garçon amongst others.

Les Erotiques Du Regard (The Erotics of the Gaze) Marc Attali & Jacques Delfau

Andre Balland, Paris

1968 (Hardcover with Jacket)

Condition: Overall condition is good. The interior very good however there is a split on the back of the spine, which is comon with this title.

SOLD

This fascinating book approaches the subject of eroticism from an original perspective often missed on books of a similar subject. Looking at the female form in a voyeuristic style, the images are snapshots of women on the street and in cafes. A large amount of focus is on the legs and in some cases the photographs are quite ambiguous. The focus of this book is as much about the female form as it is about the act of looking. Images are complemented with experimental typography laid out like concrete poetry and are as central a feature to the book as the photographs.

Waterfall Rapture: Tadanori Yokoo

Shinchosha, Tokyo

1996 (Hardcover)

Condition: Very good condition. With original obi band.

£130

Waterfall Rapture is a homage to waterfall postcards. The desire originally came from Tadanori Yokoo's desire to paint waterfalls. Instead Yokoo requested people send him any waterfall postcards they came across, he asked friends, audiences and in fact anyone he met, until he had amassed over 13,000. The layout changes with some pages just displaying one card and others many. Printed in colour this is a beautiful document of one persons obsession.

Nihon No Mayakuka / Narcotic Damage in Japan: KENMOCHI, Kazuo

1975 (First Edition. Thick quarto in slipcase. Limited to 500 copies.

Condition: Used, very good condition

£450

This is the last book by photojournalist Kazuo Kenmochi and is limited to 500 copies, It is without doubt the most comprehensive documentation ever made about drugs and addiction to them. Photographs range from the cultivation, to distribution, addiction and lastly imprisonment. Split into two halves the first half being largely photographs and the second is text written by Kenmochi on the subject (Japanese text). Predominately printed in black and white which favours the austere yet intimate images and housed in a card slipcase.

The Beautiful Book: Jack Smith

Published by Granary Books

2001 (Softcover)

Condition: Perfect. Edition 120 of 200 numbered

SOLD

Limited Edition of this excellent facsimile of Jack Smith's classic artist's book. Number 182 of 200 numbered and blind-stamped copies. With new prints made from the original negatives and mounted onto Canford Buttercup paper. Silk-screened covers, as in the original.

George Hashiguchi: We Can't Stay Anywhere-- Wild Teens of the World

Published by Quarto

1982 (Softcover)

Condition: Used, very good.

SOLD

Hashiguchi, explores the anomie and alienation of disaffected youths in several different subcultures in Japan and the west. Quite scarce, this is a very good price for a wonderful book.

Dash Snow - The End of Living the Beginning of Survival

Contemporary Fine Arts Galerie GmbH; Bilingual edition

Condition: New

£95

This beautifully produced first monograph on the young New York artist Dash Snow, whose complicated life and much-sought-after works have been chronicled in just about every major American art publication in recent years, contains stunning reproductions of his critical Dada-esque collages, which range from cum-glittered tabloid covers starring Saddam Hussein to straight text pieces to modified bondage images; new sculptural works composed of items like books, doll heads, chain mail and skeletal fragments; and a smattering of the photographs and Polaroids that originally made Snow famous outside of street art culture, where he began writing graffiti. Published on the occasion of Snow’s one-person exhibition at Contemporary Fine Arts, Berlin, this volume, with paper changes, an embossed cover and a slipcase, is a certain collector’s item. An informative short essay by Anna T. Berger rounds it out.