Annual Series No. 5 — Four Book Set
Mike Mandel / Susan Meiselas / Bill Burke / Lee Friedlander
Mike Mandel | Susan Meiselas | Bill Burke | Lee Friedlander
Clothbound hardcover with dust jacket
8.75 x 11 in. / 222 x 279 mm
Edition of 1,000
2017
ISBN 978-1-942953-28-9
Boardwalk Minus Forty by Mike Mandel
Created during the artist's time as a student at the San Francisco Art Institute, Boardwalk Minus Forty was one of Mandel's first serious forays into what he jokingly refers to as "real photographs." Known later for his conceptual bodies of work, most notably Evidence, created with fellow artist Larry Sultan in the late 1970s and now regarded by many as one of photography’s most influential photo books, Boardwalk is a rare look back at the foundation the artist was building all along.
Shot during a short period in the late 1970s in New York's Lower East Side, Meiselas developed a close and lasting bond with a group of eleven neighborhood girls, collectively known as the Prince Street Girls. This book is an intimate and sprawling view of the girls’ formative years in an ever-changing city. Meisalas, a highly renowned and respected photographer, works today as a member of Magnum. Her early 1970s work, Carnival Strippers, and her following work in Nicaragua remain seminal photographic achievements to this day.
They Shall Take Up Serpents by Bill Burke
Continuing with Burke's tradition of examining niche American cultures, Serpents pulls us into the surreal, intense, and at times consuming world of coal miners doubling as religious snake handlers by the work-week's end. Here we see Burke building a lyrical narrative connecting the two groups that feels effortless. Known for using a variety of camera and film formats, Burke strings together images that alone might seem out of place but together weave the iconic storytelling the artist has become widely known and respected for.
Spanning fifty years of the artist's work, Friedlander dove into his archives to assemble a collection of images that crystallizes one of his signature shooting motifs. The book oscillates in tone from serious to humorous and back again. With a fluidity that belies the seemingly disparate images, Friedlander reminds viewers of his brilliance as both photographer and master of the bookmaking medium. Head is a fascinating glimpse into the process and approach of one of the world's most important and enigmatic living artists.