Mr Classic by Jeremy Hackett, Photographs by Garda Tang
Thames & Hudson, May 2008
200 pages/hardcover/136 photographs/$40.00

Jeremy Hackett is Mr Classic. Having a clothing label for decades plus writing a column for the U.K.’s The Independent on Sunday are excellent platforms for influencing men’s fashion. But what decidedly earns Hackett this moniker is his talented facility for reviving the proper styles once worn by Britain’s aristocracy with modern practicality. For his book, Mr Classic, London-based photographer Garda Tang shoots Hackett’s models with fitting technique. Every bow tie, every just-so lifted chin neatly accentuates Hackett’s vision of gentlemanly chic. The looks are respectable and refreshing, not stuffy or stagnant.

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Posted by Jain Lemos at April 08, 2008 | Comments (0)

Natural Fashion: Tribal Decoration from Africa by Hans Silvester
Thames & Hudson, April 2008
168 pages/hardcover/160 color photographs/$45.00

With photographs enchanting to behold, Natural Fashion: Tribal Decoration from Africa by Hans Silvester is a sure selection for this spring’s required viewing list. Silvester, known for his protracted study of subjects, travels to Ethiopia’s Omo Valley a dozen times over four years for this new release. He infiltrates the fantastic body painting displays of two congenial tribes, the Surma and the Mursi. While this ancient African practice is uniquely noteworthy, the book also packs a universal message.

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Posted by Jain Lemos at March 18, 2008 | Comments (0)

Living Proof by David Alan Harvey
powerHouse Books, December 2007
112 pages/hardcover/52 photographs/$29.95

“Skip the pictures and go straight to the last page...read Uptown’s poem,” advises David Alan Harvey on perusing his latest book, Living Proof. Missing any of Harvey’s images is never recommended, even if he says so himself. Harvey gives us the impression that the cavern between the cryptically thunderous lyrics of a rising hip hop artist and the expert visual storytelling of a super-pro photojournalist is a gap too immense to bridge. Isn’t that unthinkable for someone as fly as Harvey?

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Posted by Jain Lemos at January 18, 2008 | Comments (0)

The Polaroids by André Kertész
W. W. Norton, November 2007
128 pages/hardcover/80 photographs/$35.00

The beautiful, bittersweet images in The Polaroids illustrate never-before-seen expressions of the amazing André Kertész (1894-1985). Mirroring his life and work, this little book is strong and sensitive, gripping and groundbreaking. Moreover, the unparalleled instant medium of Polaroid proves a fitting key to further understanding Kertész’s artistic intellect throughout his seventy-three year career.

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Posted by Jain Lemos at January 07, 2008 | Comments (0)

Puppies Behind Bars: Training Puppies to Change Lives by Christopher Makos and Paul Solberg
Glitterati Inc., October 2007
144 pages/hardcover/168 photographs/$50.00

Puppies Behind Bars: Training Puppies to Change Lives is a seamless collaboration between photographers Christopher Makos and Paul Solberg who document prison inmates training dogs to help those in need. The project hatched when Makos met an extraordinary Labrador, a recent graduate of the Puppies Behind Bars program, riding as if human on a flight to Houston. That was unusual enough to stimulate Makos’ eye and out came the camera instead of a much needed pillow.

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Posted by Jain Lemos at December 27, 2007 | Comments (0)

Iraq: The Space Between by Christoph Bangert
powerHouse Books, October 2007
118 pages/hardcover/74 color photographs/$35.00

Christoph Bangert enters an allegorical hallway in his photographic essay, Iraq: The Space Between. Unable to turn back, he must decide which door to open next. As he anticipates views beyond each new portal, he occupies himself by taking pictures inside the corridor. While languishing in the slipstream, Bangert captures the places where things like socks go when they don’t come out of the dryer.

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Posted by Jain Lemos at November 28, 2007 | Comments (0)

Extraordinary Circumstances by David Hume Kennerly
The Presidency of Gerald R. Ford
University of Texas Press, October 2007
224 pages/hardcover/125 tritone photographs/$49.95

Extraordinary Circumstances documents the unusual life acceleration of Gerald R. Ford as he takes his place in history during times of heightened political turmoil. As Ford’s personal photographer, David Hume Kennerly, who has a rather nonchalant shooting style, set the White House darkroom standard in the 1970s by developing fly-on-the-wall shots of the powerful comings and goings of a U.S. President. There isn’t a grip-and-grin or was-my-face-red snap to be found in this book. Dave, as Ford called him, was a trusted friend.

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Posted by Jain Lemos at November 21, 2007 | Comments (0)

Freeze Frame by Douglas Kirkland
Glitterati Inc., October 2007
352 pages/hardcover/450+ photographs/$50.00

Douglas Kirkland intrigues film and photography lovers with a fifty-year roundup of rarely seen intimate shots of actors and crewmembers taken on more than a hundred motion picture sets. Freeze Frame gets off to an auspicious start in the 1960s and accelerates without pausing right through the millennium.

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Posted by Jain Lemos at November 15, 2007 | Comments (0)

Magnum Magnum edited by Brigitte Lardinois
Thames & Hudson, November 30, 2007
564 pages/hardcover/ 400+ photographs in color and duotone/$225.00

“If you’re going to be thinking anyway, you might as well think big,” goes the quote from Donald Trump. Those behind the planning of Magnum Magnum moved beyond big and into the realm of colossal thinking. In fact, the book is the largest and most ambitious volume Thames & Hudson has ever published. The 14-pound behemoth surpasses another huge book about the legendary agency of decorated photographers: the 512-page Magnum Stories published in 2004 by Phaidon Press. Magnum’s kingdom keeps growing even when traditional high-end photojournalistic channels seem to be disappearing.

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Posted by Jain Lemos at October 30, 2007 | Comments (0)

A New England Autumn by Ferenc Máté
Albatross Publishing, September 2007
160 pages/hardcover/103 color photographs/$39.95

Novelist, master sailor, winemaker and yes, photographer, Ferenc Máté’s new book, A New England Autumn, showcases the region’s most pristine forests and tranquil locations. The book lives up to its promise: “For lovers of nature and fine writing.” Unfortunately, this marquee pronouncement is mistakenly placed in an obscure location on the inside jacket flap. Until readers peruse the contents pages and beyond there is little on the face of this book to indicate the riches inside.

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Posted by Jain Lemos at October 19, 2007 | Comments (0)