Published by Damiani. Edited by Phil Bicker. Contributions by Benedict Cosgrove.
In Hometown, American photographer Joseph Szabo (born 1944) explores the same geographical site as his acclaimed series Teenage and Almost Grown with a slightly different focus: rather than photograph the adolescent population of Long Island, Szabo takes the opportunity to depict the area through its buildings and landscapes.
Taken between the years of 1973 and 1980, Szabo’s black-and-white photographs portray a number of scenes that will surely strike an emotional chord with anyone who grew up in the suburbs in mid-century America. In one image, a small house is lit up from the inside on a cloudy evening, sky featureless except for the branches of trees in the distance and the spoked TV antennae affixed to every roof; in another, a young boy steps off the sun-dappled curb to swing a baseball bat at its incoming target, his Chuck Taylors holding steadfast to the carless street.
Semi-autobiographical of the photographer’s own youth in spirit if not location, Szabo’s photography deftly captures the sleepy lifestyle of the suburbs: quiet, safe and a little bit lonely. For fans of Szabo’s other work, Hometown serves as a prequel to the photographer’s later series, all characterized by their simultaneous nostalgia and timelessness.
In the late 1960s, the photographer and photography teacher Joseph Szabo first discovered Jones Beach state park in Nassau County, New York. Since then, Szabo has struck up friendships with the lifeguards on duty at what is surely among the busiest beaches in the world, finding them as fascinating as the bodies they watch over. Restful and alert, solitary and part of a team, aloof and involved, the lifeguard is a unique character and a local celebrity on the beach.
Joseph Szabo: Lifeguard documents the photographer’s encounters and friendships with the Jones Beach lifeguards in photographs taken between 1990 and 2015. Portraits in the most expansive sense of the word, the images in this volume illustrate the day-to-day preparation, teamwork, relaxation, camaraderie, duty and responsibility in the lives of these figures that Szabo has come to know and respect.
A sensitive and wry observer, Joseph Szabo (born 1944) has been called the “quintessential photographer of the teenager.” He is best known for his photographs of adolescents taken in and around the halls of Malverne High School in Long Island, where he taught photography from 1972 to 1999, which were published in the photobook classic Teenage (Greybull, 2003). Turning his camera on his students to get their attention, Szabo captured the anxiety and bravado of the American teenager in classic documentary style black-and-white photographs that quickly attained cult status in the fashion world.
In 1978 two of Joseph Szabo's high school students invited him to join them at a Rolling Stones concert at JFK Stadium in Philadelphia. Sensing a promising photo opportunity, Szabo agreed, packing three 35mm cameras and plenty of black-and-white film. Some 90,000 Rolling Stones fans converged on the stadium for the concert, where Szabo captured them drinking, kissing, smoking, dancing and hanging out. Their young subjects transported by the music, the drugs, the alcohol and the community, Szabo's Rolling Stones Fans photographs show unguarded moments of absorption and abandon in the sublimity of the rock and roll gig. Szabo recently returned to these contact sheets; an earlier edition of this work, published in 2007, is now highly collectible. Joseph Szabo: Rolling Stones Fans reprints photographs from this series, selected by Szabo, in a luxurious new edition.
Joseph Szabo (born 1944) has been called the "quintessential photographer of the teenager." He is best known for his photographs of adolescents taken in and around the halls of Malverne High School in Long Island, where he taught photography from 1972 to 1999, which were published in the photobook classic Teenage (Greybull, 2003). Turning his camera on his students to get their attention, Szabo captured the anxiety and bravado of the American teenager in classic documentary style black-and-white photographs that quickly attained cult status in the fashion world. In Szabo's own words, his images capture "the years of restless desire and blossoming sexuality. The world of high school, parking lots and street corners, and the uniquely American culture in which all of us have grown up."
Published by Greybull Press. Introduction by Cameron Crowe.
Photographer Joseph Szabo's subject is adolescence; his rare gift is capturing the spirit of his students at Malverne High School, caught between puberty and the precipice of adulthood. Taken in the 70s and 80s, the photographs in Teenage represent a remarkable evocation of that period, and yet there is something timeless and endlessly compelling about Szabo's portrait of almost-adulthood. Some kids are painfully self-conscious, others are self-assured beyond their years--all have allowed Szabo the unique trust of seeing them as they are. The fine line between intimacy and exploitation that other photographers approach is not in evidence here--Szabo has no agenda beyond the recording of these moments of extreme loveliness, bravado and confusion. With an introduction by writer/director Cameron Crowe--himself an expert chronicler of the excitement and heartbreak of youth, having directed Fast Times at Ridegemont High and more recently Almost Famous--Teenage is a poignant record of Szabo's work spanning two decades, a timeless evocation of almost-adulthood.
PUBLISHER Greybull Press
BOOK FORMAT Hardcover, 11.25 x 10.75 in. / 168 pgs / 143 duotone
PUBLISHING STATUS Pub Date 7/2/2003 No longer our product
DISTRIBUTION D.A.P. Exclusive Catalog: FALL 2003
PRODUCT DETAILS ISBN 9780972778800TRADE List Price: $45.00 CDN $55.00
Joseph Szabo: Lifeguard
Joseph Szabo: Rolling Stones Fans
Joseph Szabo: Teenage