Swiss artist Meret Oppenheim (1913–1985) is far more than just the creator of the iconic fur teacup. In the course of her career she produced a complex, wide-ranging, and enigmatic body of work that has no parallel in modern art. Like an x-ray beam, this book scans Oppenheim’s artistic oeuvre, bringing its variety, playfulness, and poetry to the fore. Instead of simply answering the riddles posed by these intriguing works, it maps out the paths that will lead us to still more clues. Simon Baur is a leading expert in the life and art of Meret Oppenheim. The nine new essays featured in this volume are at once scholarly and easy to read. In them, Baur shares the many fascinating insights and interpretations that he has gleaned from his decades-long engagement with Oppenheim’s work. The result is an anthology that combines both biographical and thematic aspects and takes us on an exciting journey into the poetic cosmos of a truly great female artist.

Reveals new and previously unknown biographical material about an important figure in 19th-century American architecture and music Jacob Wrey Mould is not a name that readily comes to mind when we think of New York City architecture. Yet he was one-third of the party responsible for the early development of Central Park in New York. To this day, his sculptural reliefs, tile work, and structures in the Park enthrall visitors. Mould introduced High Victorian architecture to NYC, his fingerprint most pronounced in his striking and colorful ornamental designs and beautiful embellishments found in the carved decorations and mosaics at the Bethesda Terrace. Resurfacing the forgotten contributions of Mould, Hell on Color, Sweet on Song presents a study of this 19th-century American architect and musical genius. Jacob Wrey Mould, whose personal history included a tie to Africa, was born in London in 1825 and trained there as an architect before moving to New York in 1852. The following year, he received the commission to design All Souls Unitarian Church. Nicknamed "the Church of the Holy Zebra," it was the first building in America to display the mix of colorful materials and Medieval Italian inspiration that were characteristic of High Victorian Gothic architecture. In addition to being an architect and designer, Mould was an accomplished musician and prolific translator of opera librettos. Yet anxiety over money and resentment over lack of appreciation of his talents soured Mould's spirit. Unsystematic, impractical, and immune from maturity, he displayed a singular indifference to the realities of architecture as a commercial enterprise. Despite his personal shortcomings, he influenced the design of some of NYC's revered landmarks, including Sheepfold, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the American Museum of Natural History, the City Hall Park fountain, and the Morningside Park promenade. From 1875-1879, he worked for Henry Meiggs, the "Yankee Pizarro," in Lima, Peru. Resting on the foundation of Central Park Docent Lucille Gordon's heroic efforts to raise from obscurity one of the geniuses of American architecture and a significant contributor to the world of music in his time, Hell on Color, Sweet on Song sheds new light on a forgotten genius of American architecture and music. Funding for this book was provided by: Furthermore: a program of the J. M. Kaplan Fund

Flowers in a Thorn Tree is the story of wildlife conservation in Northern Kenya. Over three years, Thackston made several trips to Kenya, whereupon he would imbed with ranger units of the Northern Rangelands Trust. They’re known as the Warriors for Peace and Wildlife. He lived off a troop-carrier. He would patrol, eat and sleep with the rangers, photographing them as they chased poachers, murderers, and as they worked within the pastoral communities. In this regard, the book is very much an “On the Road,� book. The aim of the photographer is to show and let the pictures tell, in a nonlinear and organic manner. NRT rangers work both on and off of their respective conservancies (there are 5 ranger groups, the 9-1 through the 9-5 sprinkled throughout northern Kenya.) Amongst the pastoral peoples, they have contacts who tell them about the movements of animal herds and potential poaching rings. They also work as peacekeepers within these communities with the idea that a happy and stable community is less likely to feel the need to poach an endangered animal. The mission to change the hearts and minds of the pastoral people regarding the treatment of endangered animals, is instilled within the ranks of the ranger units. The elephants and rhinos that appear in this book are all rescue animals or live on conservancies. They would probably not be alive without the efforts of men, particularly the rangers who populate my book. The rangers believe in their work. This group of humble men have one of the most important jobs in the world and they are succeeding. That’s good for you and me and our families.

John Chiara creates his own cameras and chemical processes in order to make unique photographs using the direct exposure of light onto reversal film and paper. Chiara describes his process: "When I'm out shooting, I directly expose the paper, dodge, burn, and filter the light as if I were working in the darkroom." This compression of the traditional photographic processes into one event, involving the hauling around of huge, handmade cameras and film backs, results in images that are intuitive and performative-and visually stunning. Focusing almost exclusively on landscapes and architecture, each resulting photograph is a singular, luminous object that renders each scene with an almost hallucinatory clarity, deploying surreal shifts of color, light, and skewed perspectives. This book, his first, focuses exclusively on images of Chiara's native California, including images from his hometown of San Francisco and other locations in Northern California, as well as Los Angeles and along the Pacific Coast. Virginia Heckert's essay situates Chiara's work in the long tradition of the landscape of the American West while also discussing his working methods and the contemporary context of this process-driven work.

"...the structure of G. E. Kidder Smith Builds, which traces his career first through books and then with exhibitions, means the book is more bibliographical than biographical... it illuminates many aspects of his life not widely known." — Archidose George Everard Kidder Smith (1913–1997) was a multidimensional figure within the wide-ranging field of North American architectural professionals in the second half of the twentieth century. Although he trained as an architect, he chose not to practice within the conventional strictures of an architecture office. Instead, Kidder Smith “designed,� researched, wrote, and photographed a remarkably diverse collection of books about architecture and the built environment. His work and life were deeply interwoven and punctuated by travel related to the research, writing, and promotion of books that sought to reveal the genius loci of the countries whose built environments he admired and wished to share with a broader audience. From the early 1940s to the late 1950s his interest in architecture led him to describe visually the architectural and historical identity of many European countries. After his far-flung travels over the decades, with his wife Dorothea, Kidder Smith focused on his own country and produced a series of ambitious books focused on the United States. Kidder Smith’s vision and narrative betray the gaze of the traveller, the scholar, and the architect.

Winner of the 2020 Hugo Boss Prize One of the most intriguing photographers of her generation, Deana Lawson's subject is black expressive culture and her canvas is the African Diaspora. Over the last ten years, she has created a striking visual language to describe black identities, through figurative portraiture and social documentary accounts of ceremonies and rituals. Lawson works with large-format cameras and models she meets in the United States and on travels in the Caribbean and Africa to construct arresting, highly structured, and deliberately theatrical scenes animated by an exquisite range of color and attention to surprising details: bedding and furniture in domestic interiors or lush plants in Edenic gardens. The body-often nude-is central. Throughout her work, Lawson seeks to portray the personal and the powerful in black life. Deana Lawson: An Aperture Monograph features forty-five beautifully reproduced photographs and an extensive interview with the filmmaker Arthur Jafa. "Outside a Deana Lawson portrait you might be working three jobs, just keeping your head above water, struggling. But inside her frame you are beautiful, imperious, unbroken, unfallen." - Zadie Smith

A new-born baby is carefully checked over at a hospital in Jaipur, a small girl grins from a bench on Rome's Piazza Navona and energetic boys jostle in front of the camera in Havana - over his long career and on his many travels Steve McCurry has taken an incredible selection of photographs of children, each one managing to hint at an epic story. Stories and Dreams brings a unique selection of these images together for the first time. With an introduction from Ziauddin Yousafzai, father of Malala, this is a colourful portrayal of the challenges, hopes and adventures of children from across the world.

Bruce Gilden first set foot in Japan in 1994. On that trip and subsequent others, he explored the meandering streets of a country that had long fascinated him. From Tokyo to Osaka, he laid Japan bare in his own inimitable photographic style. Each image is a very close and powerful encounter with a story behind it. As ever, Gilden makes his approach, talks, tells stories, takes photographs, and paints a portrait of a unique street scene. In search of personalities as strong as his own, Gilden drew on the details around him to transcribe his vision of Japan: one man's suit, another's hat, or a woman's posture. All of these elements, which give strength to the images, form a captivating ensemble - on the margins, just like him. In Cherry Blossom, Gilden tells the story of these voyages and the ties he maintains with Japan in a rare introductory text. The stories told alongside these pictures - whether an anecdote or a dialogue with their characters - render the American photographer's vision even more contemporary than ever. With 60 illustrations

Rouge Lointain is first and foremost a book of photographs that is in line with the resolutely contemporary trend of preserving traces of places and activities that are in danger of disappearing. Through the images of its superb machinery that has now disappeared and its deserted architecture, it is the memory of an Italian-style theatre that lives on today. Through them it is also the work of those who worked there in the shadows and without whom the show could not have existed as we imagine. Fascinated by the beauty of its frames, the dilapidated materials, the magic of these mechanisms made of ropes, pulleys, capstans and narrow footbridges on three antique masts, Andre Soupart invites us to wander on the grill, under the stage and backstage and to discover a universe unknown to the spectators. Text in English and French.

When Joe McNally moved to New York City in 1976, his first job was at the Daily News as a copyboy, the wretched dog of the newsroom. He was earning the lowest pay grade possible and living in a cheap hotel in Manhattan. Life was not glamorous. But with a fierce drive, an eye for a picture, and a willingness to take (almost) any assignment that came his way, Joe stepped out onto the always precarious tightrope of the freelance photographer and never looked back. Fast forward 40 years, and his work has included assignments and stories for National Geographic, Time, LIFE, Sports Illustrated, and more. He has travelled for assignments to nearly 70 countries and received dozens of awards for his photography. In The Real Deal, Joe tells us how it all started, and candidly shares stories, lessons, and insights he has collected along the way. This is not a dedicated how-to book about where to put the light, though there is certainly instructional information to be gleaned here. This is also not a navel-gazing look back at the good old days, because those never really existed anyway. Instead, The Real Deal is simply a collection of candid field notes some short, some quite long gathered over time that, together, become an intimate look behind the scenes at a photographer who has pretty much seen and done it all. Though the photography industry bears little resemblance to the industry just 10 years ago (much less 40 years ago), what it really takes to become a successful photographer the character traits, the fundamental lessons, the ability to adapt, and then adapt again remains the same. Joe writes about everything from the crucial ability to know how to use (and make!) window light to the importance of creating long-term relationships built on trust; from lessons learned after a day in the field to the need to follow your imagination wherever it takes you; from the random and lucky moments that propel one s career to the wonders and pitfalls of today s camera technology. For every mention of f-stops and shutter speeds, there is equal discussion about the importance of access, the occasional moment of hubris, and the idea of becoming iconic. Before Joe was a celebrated and award-winning photographer, before he was a well-respected educator and author of multiple bestselling books, he was just Joe, hustling every day, from one assignment to the next, piecing together a portfolio, a skill set, a reputation, a career. He imagined a life and then took pictures of it. Here are a few frames.

A longtime favourite getaway for America's most influential families, Cumberland Island, off the Atlantic coast of Georgia, offers breathtaking white-sand beaches, rolling dunes, old-growth oak forests, and salt marsh tidal estuaries. At the centre of it all is a population of horses that has thrived, untouched for generations, within this serene sanctuary. In Wild Horses of Cumberland Island, photographer Anouk Masson Krantz has captured the dramatic scenery and majestic horses as they have never been seen before. Her images show the remarkable animals in their naturally diverse ecosystems. A lone horse on a distant beach; four creatures peacefully grazing; a shy animal peering over its shoulder from a brushy thicket - Krantz's portfolio, built over the last decade, is an intimate reflection not only of Cumberland Island's exceptional beauty and spirited horses, but of the history and the safekeeping that have allowed both to flourish. This second edition includes many new images and showcases Krantz's expansive body of work that reflects the remarkable majesty of these horses as they continue to roam across this remote island landscape.

Alexey Titarenko created the series of collages and photomontages that became Nomenklatura of Signs from 1986-1991, under the strict Soviet rule. This new publication presents the series in its entirety for the first time. Working in secret, Titarenko conceived the project as a way to translate the visual reality of Soviet life into a language that expressed its absurdity, in a hierarchy of symbols that, together, formed a nomenclature - or, in Russian, nomenklatura, a term for the system by which government posts were filled in the Soviet Union. Drawing inspiration from the aesthetics of Kazimir Malevich, Aleksandr Rodchenko, and other artists of the early 20th century Russian avant-garde, Titarenko captures an uncanny, darkly comic world in which language is controlled and subverted much like the Newspeak of George Orwell's novel 1984. The book includes an introduction by writer Jean-Jacques Mari and art historian Gabriel Bauret, as well as a critical interpretation of the series by art historian Ksenia Nouril. The book is designed by Kelly Doe Studio, NYC.

Roger Ballen’s new rat-human character: a gothic allegory in immaculately composed photographs

Over the past 35 years, Johannesburg-based American photographer and painter Roger Ballen (born 1950) has developed a distinctively dark and eerie style―characterized by a simple square format and stark black and white―to create images of the South African social landscape and portraits of surreal vignettes.

In his latest volume Ballen expands on his longstanding predilection for unsettling interiors and spooky characters. Roger the Rat follows the life of a creature whose body is human but whose head is that of a rat. Ballen’s rat character interacts with mannequins, people and various objects in often cramped and oppressive rooms, in ways that defy explanation but seem at once humorous and sinister. This book gathers the series, made between 2015 and 2020.

The first full-length title in English on the celebrated photographer Claude Cahun whose work was rediscovered in the 1980s.

This lively and original book looks at Cahun and her oeuvre in the contexts of the turbulent times in which she lived. Surveying standard postmodernist approaches to Cahun, born Lucy Schwob, Doy goes further, positioning Cahun's photographs as part of her life as a woman, lesbian and political activist in the early twentieth century. Doy considers Cahun's relationships with Symbolism and then Surrealism and her approach to dress and masquerade, assessing the images in the context of the situation of women at the time and within the prevailing fashion and beauty culture. She also pays attention to her curious images of constructed objects and re-evaluates the status of Cahun's small-scale snapshots as photographs.

Enormously readable, 'Claude Cahun' at last provides a fuller picture of this important artist's life and work.

Maryam Ashrafi is a social documentary photographer who believes in long term projects, she chooses to stay behind the front lines and observe the daily lives of combatants, which includes a lot of waiting around. She is above all involved in documenting the everyday life on the Kurdish front. Her work puts a face on a widely commented war which remains, from afar, perceived mainly by the West in terms of the number of refugees. Maryam documents the war in her own way, stressing its complexities and the actual building of a new social model based on equality where women occupy the same roles as men, which is remarkable in this area of the world. This is why, over the years, she has returned to the same places, from Kobane to Tabqa, to show the unique power of the resilience of the population and the will to live and change. "The struggle of the Kurdish people and their fight for freedom and fundamental rights have not come to an end, and therefore this book cannot portray all of their journeys, nor shall I stop documenting what is still to come. Yet I believe, as a witness, I owe it to history and to those I have met for sharing some of these images in this book to show part of their journey to freedom and equality", Maryam believes. The book is built on the chronology of the events as documented by Maryam Ashrafi, to understand the evolution of the conflict and its consequences on the populations and their living environment. Photographer James Nachtwey once made a point about such war photographs shown in museums, or in a book; it is "a space for reflection on the universality of the dramas that humanity is going through in its entirety". During her travels, Maryam Ashrafi has created a body of images which highlight very important topics as they are an immediate consequence of war, from the sheer destruction to the refugee camps, as they evoke the foundations of the culture and the identity of the Kurdish people - the ceremonies in honour of martyrs, dances around fires, New Year celebrations etc. Finally, Maryam Ashrafi's work is also about empathy and about invisible wounds; it is obvious that one could not witness a conflict without being caught up in the daily suffering, especially children and women. Maryam finds emotions and feelings, in simple gestures, smiles and dances, these moments of intimacy. The presence of the photographer is forgotten, there remains only the reality of their fight and the resilience of a people. In these moments, she captures expressions that speak so much more than long speeches. Let's listen to them in the midst of ruins, dancing amid bullets.

The title Present Perfect ambiguously relates to an “ideal present� on the one hand culminating in a “perfect� moment, and on the other hand to the English tense referring to a state or an action that began in the past and continues to the present. An allusion to the photography’s utopian attempt to enshrine the present moment, when it is only ever able to capture a moment in the past. Echoing a plethora of attentive everyday observations, Eidinger’s photographs capture oftentimes paradoxical scenes of mundane life including people’s ambivalent behaviour. In a society of singularities, reality has become a colossal photomontage. Behind it lies an abysmal world entangled in contradictions. Eidinger depicts the lonely emptiness of modern life’s non-places, provisionalities, garishly out-of-place oddities. His confrontations with insufferable incongruities turn into symbolic images of an era of exhaustion. Present Perfect assembles new images captured with his mobile phone, as well as images taken with a reflex camera, tracing Eidinger’s photographic self-explorations over the past 20 years.

Focusing on one broadly representative figure, Francis Bedford, this study emphasizes how photographs operated to form and transmit cultural ideas and values. The first writing on Bedford since the 1970s, the book examines the work of a man who was one of Victorian England's premier landscape photographers, and also a successful photographic entrepreneur. His fusion of art and commerce illuminates classifications of each field, exemplifies the tensions between them, and demonstrates a reconciliation of two often conflicting sets of issues. This study fills an informational gap, and analyzes the definitions, expectations, and positioning of photography in its seminal decades. The multiple interpretative possibilities arising from Bedford's photographs in particular elucidate the range of discussions and complexity of ideas about culture and nature, the individual and the nation, home and abroad, and the past and the present engaging the mid-Victorian public. Major themes of the book include the intersection of nature and culture, the related practice of nineteenth-century tourism, attitudes toward historical identity, and the formation of a national identity in England and Wales, c. 1856-94.

Double Orbit invites us into a compact world of ambiguous signs, secret passages and seemingly haunted premises. Exploring the peripheries of large western metropolises, Gregoire Pujade-Lauraine's photographs study the built environments that harbour and shape human life, revealing the cryptic symbols etched across their surfaces and embedded in their shadows. The looming forms defy easy categorisation and disconcerting cyphers periodically emerge from a lingering dusk; an oversized key, a black concrete moon, or the illusion of a limitless temple. Pujade-Lauraine's photographs depict the mundane details of the urban environment, yet when brought together read like a set of tarot cards - becoming open-ended allegories, their meaning awakened solely in combination. Double Orbit presents an elusive world, whose enigmas seem to emerge independently of the deliberate hands that built it, and which alludes to the oblique mysteries held on the surface of familiar surroundings.

A stunning portrait of the nocturnal moths of Central and South America by famed American photographer Emmet Gowin American photographer Emmet Gowin (b. 1941) is best known for his portraits of his wife, Edith, and their family, as well as for his images documenting the impact of human activity upon landscapes around the world. For the past fifteen years, he has been engaged in an equally profound project on a different scale, capturing the exquisite beauty of more than one thousand species of nocturnal moths in Bolivia, Brazil, Ecuador, French Guiana, and Panama. These stunning color portraits present the insects--many of which may never have been photographed as living specimens before, and some of which may not be seen again--arrayed in typologies of twenty-five per sheet. The moths are photographed alive, in natural positions and postures, and set against a variety of backgrounds taken from the natural world and images from art history. Throughout Gowin's distinguished career, his work has addressed urgent concerns. The arresting images of Mariposas Nocturnas extend this reach, as Gowin fosters awareness for a part of nature that is generally left unobserved and calls for a greater awareness of the biodiversity and value of the tropics as a universally shared natural treasure. An essay by Gowin provides a fascinating personal history of his work with biologists and introduces both the photographic and philosophical processes behind this extraordinary project. Essential reading for audiences both in photography and natural history, this lavishly illustrated volume reminds readers that, as Terry Tempest Williams writes in her foreword, "The world is saturated with loveliness, inhabited by others far more adept at living with uncertainty than we are."