Synopses & Reviews
A much-needed reprint of London photographer Wolfgang Tillmans' first book--published in 1995 and long out of print--this atmospheric, rhythmic compilation of black-and-white images combines portraits of youth culture, landscapes, city scenes, slogans, clippings from newspapers and book illustrations, neatly demonstrating the development of Tillmans' savvy, genre-crossing style, which lends itself so well to book form. Perennially influential to younger artists, Tillmans has become known for his salon-style exhibitions where images of different sizes and subjects are pinned to the wall in loosely connected constellations that have contributed greatly to how we read and view photographs. In a 2005 interview with artist Isa Genzken, Tillmans said of his approach, I think it's much more radical to see and show things as they look instead of making them somehow subversive through alienation or estrangement. Tillmans is the first German-born artist, as well as the first photographer, to be awarded Britain's esteemed Turner Prize.
Synopsis
According to photographer Wolfgang Tillmans, For the chosen few, flying Concorde is apparently a glamorous but cramped and slightly boring routine while to watch it in air, landing or taking off is a strange and free spectacle, a super modern anachronism and an image of the desire to overcome time and distance through technology. With no text other than the inner-front flap's description, this fourth printing of Tillmans' iconic artist's book consists of 62 color photographs of the Concorde airplane--taking off, landing or in flight, and sometimes as just a tiny, bird-like silhouette in the sky. The photographs speak of both the beauty and the environmental devastation produced by this fabled French airplane, both sides of which Tillmans captures in his casual yet formally elegant signature style.