THE PHOTOGRAPHER AND THE CITY

Chicago, IL: Museum Of Contemporary Art, 1977. First Edition. First Printing.. Softcover. Fine/No Dust Jacket, As Issued.. Chicago, IL: Museum Of Contemporary Art, 1977. Softcover. Fine/None, As Issued. First Edition/First Printing. 30 pages. Exhibition Catalog. One of the most beautiful art photography catalogs ever published. The first and only edition. Published in a small and limited print run as a softcover original only. There is no ISBN. The Catalog is now rare. A brilliant production by MCA: Oversize-volume format. Wraparound portfolio with a round die-cut in the center, mimicking the camera viewer. The contents are all laid within: Photographic reproductions by various photographers, all of them now iconic figures of the 20th century. They are presented as loose archival plates that are designed to be framed. Curated and edited with accompanying text by Stephen Prokopoff and Gail Buckland, which is printed on a separate eight-page folded sheet. Printed on pristine-white, thick glossy stock paper (for the plates) in Chicago to the highest standards. The reproduction quality is exemplary in every respect. Without DJ, as issued. Published on the occasion of the landmark retrospective exhibition of the same name held at the Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA) in 1977. Presents "The Photographer And The City". That is, Chicago, seen through the points-of-view of some of the greatest photographers of the 20th century, almost all of them students and later, professors at the Institute of Design (ID) , the only serious, Bauhaus-inspired, and profoundly influential photography school ever founded in the United States. As such, these are NOT your typical "architectural wonder of the world" images identified with Chicago through mainstream photographs of it, and therefore represent a breakthrough and rupture of the banal image-continuum that pervades to this day. These are singular, unusual, and even odd "takes" of a great city that has inspired more than its fair share of photographs, right up there (almost) with Paris, London, and New York. Images by a stunning Who's Who of modern photography include in alphabetical order: Harold Allen, Harry Callahan, Barbara Crane, Jonas Dovydenas, Yasuhiro Ishimoto, Joseph D. Jachna, Kenneth Josephson, Arthur Lazar, Nathan Lerner, Jose M. Lopez, Danny Lyon, Luis Medina (in collaboration with Lopez) , Ray Metzker, Richard Nickel, Arthur Siegel, Art Sinsabaugh, Aaron Siskind, Keith Smith, Wayne Source, Joseph Sterling, Robert Stiegler, Ruth Thorne-Thomsen, and Charles Traub. The Catalog is outstanding in that the reproduction quality is such that each image is truly worthy of being framed, if so desired. Production such as this is no longer possible today because of the prohibitive cost entailed. An absolute "must-have" title for photography book collectors. This title is a late-modern art photography classic. This is one of few copies of the Exhibition Catalog still available online and is in especially fine condition: Clean, crisp, and bright. Please note: The few remaining copies available online have very serious flaws. This is surely an accessible and lovely alternative. A rare copy thus. 22 loose plates. Some of the greatest photographers of the 20th century. A fine copy. (SEE ALSO HARRY CALLAHAN, BARBARA CRANE, JONAS DOVYDENAS, YASUHIRO ISHIMOTO, JOSEPH D. JACHNA, KENNETH JOSEPHSON, NATHAN LERNER, DANNY LYON, LUIS MEDINA, RAY METZKER, RICHARD NICKEL, AARON SISKIND, JOSEPH STERLING, AND CHARLES TRAUB TITLES IN OUR CATALOG).