Synopses & Reviews
Photographer Irving Penn (b. 1917) is renowned for his innovative contributions to portrait, still life, and fashion photography, and a career that has spanned more than six decades at Vogue magazine.and#160; In 1950, Vogue assigned Penn to photograph workers in Paris, and thus his monumental work The Small Trades began.and#160; Created in 1950 and 1951 in Paris, London, and New York, The Small Trades consists of portraits of skilled tradespeople dressed in their work clothes and carrying the tools of their respective trades. Capturing the humble coal heaver and the crisply dressed waiter with equal directness, Pennandrsquo;s arresting portraits also underscore fascinating cultural differences.
The Small Trades was Pennandrsquo;s most extensive body of work, and he returned to it over many decades, producing ever more exacting prints. Two hundred-six unique images from the series are flawlessly reproduced in this book.and#160; In addition, the introductory essay describes the history and context of The Small Trades series and its importance to Pennandrsquo;s career and the history of photography.and#160; An interview with Edmonde Charles-Roux, the chief editor for French Vogue from 1952 to 1966, who assisted Penn on the assignment in Paris, provides fascinating insights of the Paris sittings.and#160;
Review
andquot;[Beato's] life is well-told in Anne Lacoste's superb study . . . and the prints remain as revelatory today as they were to a 19th-century audience.andquot;andmdash;The Wall Street Journaland#160;
Review
and#160;andldquo;The nobility and individuality of Pennandrsquo;s subjects, and the simple setting, enhanced only by the sittersandrsquo; tools of their trades, became staples of Pennandrsquo;s equanimous style.and#160; Published by Vogue in 1951, the photographs have now been collected in a coffee-table book, which is both a paean and swan song to a lost era.andrdquo;andmdash;British Vogue
Review
and#160;andldquo;These photographs . . . are respectful, consistent, beautiful, intelligent, daring. And unmissable. A brilliant catalogue.andrdquo;andmdash;Financial Times
Review
and#160; andldquo;Penn . . . was a master of portrait photography. . . . This collection is of ordinary, anonymous workersandmdash;plumbers, bakers, house painters, and street artists in Paris, London, and New York.and#160;and#160;Each and every one is compelling.andrdquo;andmdash;The Philadelphia Inquirer
Review
and#160;andldquo;Rather than picture [his subjects] where they worked, Penn brought them into his studio to pose like models against a sooty gray paper background.and#160; The smoky light of his black-and-white prints makes them look like living sculpture, carved into individuality by their life experiences and their times.andrdquo;andmdash;San Francisco Chronicle
Review
and#160;andldquo;More than 200 prints are reproduced in this finely executed tribute to a master.andrdquo;andmdash;Professional Photographer
Review
and#160;andldquo;The broadest view yet of one of Pennandrsquo;s most important and appealing early projects. . . . Small Trades has the heft of historyandmdash;itandrsquo;s a sociologistandrsquo;s dreamandmdash;but itandrsquo;s also one of the yearandrsquo;s most fascinating books of fashion photographs.andrdquo;andmdash;Photograph Magazine
Review
and#160;andldquo;This magnificent book, with its outstanding images, is a pleasure to hold.andrdquo; andmdash;Choice
Review
andquot;The book is a work of art in its own right; an object of beauty, and a Noah's ark for vanishing trades.andquot;andmdash;The Jewish Chronicle
Review
andldquo;Anne Lacosteandrsquo;s beautifully produced, often revelatory Felice Beato: A Photographer on the Eastern Road, which covers the broad range of his pioneering work in India, Japan, and China, includes a fascinating focus on his war photography by Fred Ritchin.andrdquo;andmdash;Photographand#160;
Review
andldquo;Felice Beato: A Photographer on the Eastern Road shows the breadth of [Beatoandrsquo;s] oeuvre to the highest standard.andrdquo;andmdash;Royal Photographic Society Journal
Synopsis
The fascinating life and work of an artist who captured some of the first photographs of the Far East are presented in this gorgeous volume.
Synopsis
In recent years Felice Beato (1832andndash;1909) has come to be recognized as one of the major photographers of the nineteenth century, yet until now there has been no general survey of his singular life and work. Born in Venice, Italy, Beato came of age in the Ottoman capital of Constantinople. As a young apprentice in 1856, he photographed the sites of the Crimean War, thereby launching a long and remarkably adventurous career. Over the next half century he would follow in the wake of the British Empire: Egypt, Palestine, and Syria; India, where he photographed the aftermath of the Indian Mutiny; and China, where he chronicled the Second Opium War. He spent some thirty years in Japan and Burma, where he was among the first commercial photographers at the time that these countries were starting to open to the West.
The text includes an engaging narrative of his life and entrepreneurial career and a thought-provoking essay on Beato and the photography of war. There is a generous selection of his photographs, including panoramas and hand-colored Japanese studies, along with captivating period ephemera, lithographs based on his work, and humorous caricatures of the artist.
About the Author
“The nobility and individuality of Penn’s subjects, and the simple setting, enhanced only by the sitters’ tools of their trades, became staples of Penn’s equanimous style. Published by Vogue in 1951, the photographs have now been collected in a coffee-table book, which is both a paean and swan song to a lost era.”—British Vogue
“These photographs . . . are respectful, consistent, beautiful, intelligent, daring. And unmissable. A brilliant catalogue.”—Financial Times
“Penn . . . was a master of portrait photography. . . . This collection is of ordinary, anonymous workers—plumbers, bakers, house painters, and street artists in Paris, London, and New York. Each and every one is compelling.”—The Philadelphia Inquirer
“Rather than picture [his subjects] where they worked, Penn brought them into his studio to pose like models against a sooty gray paper background. The smoky light of his black-and-white prints makes them look like living sculpture, carved into individuality by their life experiences and their times.”—San Francisco Chronicle
“More than 200 prints are reproduced in this finely executed tribute to a master.”—Professional Photographer
“The broadest view yet of one of Penn’s most important and appealing early projects. . . . Small Trades has the heft of history—it’s a sociologist’s dream—but it’s also one of the year’s most fascinating books of fashion photographs.”—Photograph Magazine
“This magnificent book, with its outstanding images, is a pleasure to hold.” —Choice
"The book is a work of art in its own right; an object of beauty, and a Noah's ark for vanishing trades."—The Jewish Chronicle