Icons of Photography: The 20th Century FROM OUR EDITORS
The 20th was the first full century to be documented photographically. To mark the occasion, Prestel offers Icons of Photography: The 20th Century, a richly illustrated volume that presents the work of more than 90 of the century's most celebrated photographers. Each photographer's accomplishments are examined in an essay penned by one of nine prominent arts writers; the essays, arranged chronologically, are accompanied by a brief bio and examples of each artist's work. Icons of Photography: The 20th Century is an invaluable summing up of the first full century of photography.
FROM THE PUBLISHER
More than ninety of the century's best photographers are presented in this richly illustrated volume with some 160 icons of the genre. This selection focuses not only on universally famous and artistically stunning images by renowned photographers, but also on the discovery of lesser known pictures of exquisite quality. The range of subject material, from the portrait to political or social reportage, from genre images to abstract or subjective photography, is matched only by the stylistic variety of the selected works. These reflect the multiplicity of this century's artistic movements and lend them new expression through their clarity and focus. More than any other artistic medium, photography has changed the way we view our world at the close of the twentieth century, a fact that is clearly reflected in this volume.
SYNOPSIS
The 20th was the first full century to be documented photographically. To mark the occasion, Prestel offers Icons of Photography: The 20th Century, a richly illustrated volume that presents more than 90 of the century's most celebrated photographers. Each photographer's accomplishments are examined in an essay penned by one of nine prominent arts writers; the essays, arranged chronologically, are accompanied by a brief bio and examples of each artist's work. Icons of Photography: The 20th Century is an invaluable summing-up of the first full century of photography. In this excerpt, the prolific and influential career of Berenice Abbott is celebrated.
FROM THE CRITICS
Library Journal
The third of Prestel's "Icon" series, which is devoted to gathering landmark work from a featured medium, this chronological assembly of 90 photographers, from Berenice Abbott to Heinrich Zille, offers a carefully gathered spectrum of photography in this century. Each artist is given a two-page spread, including a portrait shot and an example of a key image; there are 165 images in all, representing the artists' best and most challenging work. In the hands of these daring practitioners, photography looks like a tool of revelation, with imagination, mystery, and the range of human experience on display throughout. These captured instants--framed, composed, labored over, and at times accidental--create an important legacy that will be reviewed for a long time to come. They also reveal what parts of the 20th century have looked like. Recommended for the value of its content and its careful, consistent presentation of great photography.--David Bryant, New Canaan P.L., CT Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.
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