An expansive and timely survey on contemporary British photographer and artist Nick Waplington, with work spanning his entire 40-year career – his first comprehensive retrospective volume London- and New York-based artist Nick Waplington uses photography to capture the complex and far-reaching aspects of our lived experience. He rose to prominence in the early 1990s with Living Room and has since become known for his unfiltered depictions of people and places, and the sociopolitical backgrounds that define them. From the chaos, violence, and euphoria of riots, protests, and free parties to the surreal, hypnotic quiet of his large-format landscapes, Waplington’s work (in all its messy humanness) transcends stereotypes and confounds expectations, and this book is no exception. Including never-before-published images, offering new insight into both well- and lesser-known projects, as well as Waplington’s painting and artistic practice, the book opens with a newly commissioned introduction from Simon Baker, one of the leading curators of contemporary photography in Europe and director of the Maison Européenne de la photographie (MEP), Paris. This is the most extensive survey of Waplington's work to date, and includes previously unpublished photographs, as well as paintings, sketchbooks, and other artworks that complement his practice.

?????? One of Britain's leading contemporary photographers, Nick Waplington is known for photographing British social scenery and his life and close circle of friends and family in East London, where he lives and works. ?????? Double Dactyl accompanies his solo exhibition of the same name at The Whitechapel Gallery, London. ?????? Waplington first came to public notice with Living Room (1991), a photographic portrait based on the everyday lives of two close-knit families in Nottingham, England. ?????? Since then he has often worked in book form. Double Dactyl expands on previous work, now referencing the grand traditions of history painting, classical mythology and landscape photography. ?????? This new work also explores notions of photographic "reality," by working with constructed and manipulated images taken from his own large format photographs. ?????? Double Dactyl features 56 colour reproductions of this new body of work, its surreal and often subtle use of manipulation confirming Waplington's idiosynchratic approach to contemporary photographic practice. Nick Waplington has exhibited internationally including at Deitch Projects, New York, The Philadelphia Mudeum of Modern Art and the 2001 Venice Biennale. He lives and works in London. Also Published by Trolley You Love Life (2005) Learn How To Die The Easy Way (2001)

Somewhere out there lies the unchartered frontier of cyberspace. In that Babel there are images, dreams inert and vital messages, anonymous ciphers and calclating incubi. Because it is faceless, as if somehow subterranean, human dialogue and the expression of ideas can multiply without responsibility, without the parameters of authorial disciplines or social conventions.

From 1989 to 1993, New York fashion designer Isaac Mizrahi granted the British photographer Nick Waplington rare backstage access to photograph every detail of the designer's fitting sessions in the weeks before his twice-yearly fashion shows. Combining Waplington's gritty verite style with Mizrahi's haute couture sensibilities, the resulting images offer a candid glimpse into the world of fashion when supermodels including Cindy Crawford, Christy Turlington and Naomi Campbell reigned supreme. At the same time, Waplington set out to document the wildly creative nightlife of the '90s club kid culture in New York, juxtaposing his images of uptown style with downtown looks and taking pictures at some of the city's most infamous clubs, such as the Pyramid Club and Save the Robots. Artist and photographer Nick Waplington (born 1970) has published several monographs, including Living Room and The Wedding (Aperture), Safety in Numbers (Booth Clibborn), Truth or Consequences (Phaidon) and Alexander McQueen: Working Process (Damiani). He lives in London and New York. Isaac Mizrahi (born 1961) has been a leader in the fashion industry for almost 30 years. In 1995 he was the subject of the award-winning documentary, Unzipped. In 2003 Mizrahi pioneered the concept of merging high design with mass retail in partnership with Target. He has designed costumes for the New York Metropolitan Opera, the American Ballet Theater and the San Francisco Ballet. Mizrahi is the author of How to Have Style and has been head judge on Lifetime's Project Runway: All Stars.