Celebrated filmmaker and photographer Wim Wenders will discuss and sign copies of his new book of photographs, Places, Strange and Quiet, at the venerated Hollywood bookstore on Friday, November 19, from 4 to 6 pm. read the full post
Published by D.A.P./Distributed Art Publishers. Text by Wim Wenders. Interview by Alain Bergala.
In late 1983, looking for the subjects and locations that would bring the desolate landscape of the American West to life for his iconic film Paris, Texas, German filmmaker Wim Wenders took his Makina Plaubel 6 x 7 camera on the road. Driving through Texas, Arizona, New Mexico and California, Wenders was captivated by the unique, saturated, colorful light of the vast, wild landscape of the American West--even in the 20th century, a land associated with cowboys and outlaws, and suffused with the mythology of the frontier. The series he produced, Written in the West, was first exhibited in 1986 at the Centre Pompidou in Paris, and first published in 2000. Roughly three decades later, in this expanded edition, Wenders adds 15 new images of the sleepy town that gave the movie its name--though no footage was ever actually shot there. Made with a Fuji 6 x 4.5 camera, the new photographs are poetic documents of an abiding fascination and a search for personal memories. Together, they add an essential new chapter to Wenders' classic Written in the West, now Revisited. Over the past four decades, through films like Paris, Texas (1984), Wings of Desire (1987), Buena Vista Social Club (1999) and Pina (2011), Wim Wenders (born 1945) has distinguished himself as one of the leading lights of New German Cinema and one of the great directors in contemporary film. Wenders has had an equally distinguished career in photography; his photographs are exhibited and collected internationally.
This slipcased postcard volume consists of 12 color postcards of images from Wim Wenders’ book of photographs, Places, Strange and Quiet, published by Hatje Cantz in 2011. That book brought together a fascinating series of Wenders’ large-scale photographs taken between 1983 and 2011: iconic images of the exteriors of buildings and panoramic depictions of towns and landscapes. Wenders (born 1945) is a German author, film director, photographer, playwright and producer, and one of the most successful contemporary filmmakers around. “When you travel a lot,” he says, “and when you love to just wander around and get lost, you can end up in the strangest spots … it must be some sort of built-in radar that often directs me to places that are strangely quiet, or quietly strange.” This postcard book presents a small selection from across the range of Wenders’ photographic oeuvre.
Wim Wenders (born 1945) started taking photographs at the age of 7. By the age of 12 he had equipped himself with his own darkroom, and by 17 he had acquired his first Leica. A few years later he was to emerge as a leading light in the New German Cinema movement of the late 1960s, making his feature-length directorial debut with Summer in the City (1970). Throughout his subsequent global acclaim as a director, Wenders has doggedly maintained his life as a photographer. In fact, the two careers have served each other well, as many of his photographs are created while location-scouting for films. His image repertoire of neglected industrial buildings, vacant lots, cemeteries, dilapidated urban niches and courtyards expresses a mixture of bemusement, melancholy and dislocation. “When you travel a lot, and when you love to just wander around and get lost, you can end up in the strangest spots,” Wenders says. “It must be some sort of built-in radar that often directs me to places that are strangely quiet, or quietly strange.” These strange and quiet color photographs are accompanied by poetic captions, some of which elucidate what is depicted while others lightly supplement with an anecdote. This new edition of Places, Strange and Quiet features seven new photographs taken in Germany and Fukushima as well as an essay by Wenders on analogue and digital photography.
Wim Wenders (born 1945) started taking photographs at the age of 7. By the age of 12 he had equipped himself with his own darkroom, and by 17 he had acquired his first Leica. A few years later he was to emerge as a leading light in the New German Cinema movement of the late 1960s, making his feature-length directorial debut with Summer in the City (1970). Throughout his subsequent global acclaim as a director, Wenders has doggedly maintained his life as a photographer. In fact, the two careers have served each other well, as many of his photographs are created while location-scouting for films. His image repertoire of neglected industrial buildings, vacant lots, cemeteries, dilapidated urban niches and courtyards express a mixture of bemusement, melancholy and dislocation. “When you travel a lot, and when you love to just wander around and get lost, you can end up in the strangest spots,” Wenders says. “It must be some sort of built-in radar that often directs me to places that are strangely quiet, or quietly strange.” These strange and quiet color photographs are accompanied by poetical captions, some of which elucidate what is depicted, others of which lightly supplement with an anecdote (one characteristically deadpan caption accompanies an image of a cowboy clown standing at a rodeo: “It is amazing how many different ideas of 'fun' co-exist in this world” ). Places, Strange and Quiet gathers photographs from 1983 to 2011 in a full panorama of Wenders' photography to date.
Wim Wenders ranks among the greatest artistic minds of contemporary film: over the past 30 years his films have consistently demonstrated such clarity and sensitivity that they have transcended boundaries of language and nationality, finding a devoted audience worldwide. Wenders brings to this collection of photographic essays the same literary and cinematic talents, the same command of the art of storytelling that we find in his films. In the tradition of Paris, Texas and Faraway, So Close, the texts and pictures in Once weave ambiguous and moving narratives in fits of rhythmic prose and inventive imagery. Prefaced by Wenders' poetic meditations on the metaphysics of photography and film, Once consists of short, autobiographical sketches relating Wenders' experiences--both meaningful and apparently trivial--on his trips across the world scouting locations for his films, as well as photographs taken during these excursions. The resulting book is at once travel diary, photo album, and a series of short films or short stories--revealing the views and sentiments of an auteur inspired by the poetry of the eye and the melody of speech. Fascinating and revelatory, Once gives us a unique look at the universe Wenders has created out of the hidden pieces of everyday life.
Published by D.A.P./Schirmer/Mosel. Artwork by Wim Wenders.
Wim Wenders ranks among the greatest artistic minds of contemporary film: over the past thirty years his films have displayed such wisdom, creativity, and sensitivity that they have transcended boundaries of language and nationality. Wenders brings to this collection of photographic essays the same literary and cinematic talents, the same command of the art of storytelling that we find in his films. In the tradition of Paris, Texas and Faraway, So Close, the texts and pictures in Once weave ambiguous and moving narratives in fits of rhythmic prose and inventive imagery. Prefaced by Wenders' poetic meditations on the metaphysics of photography and film, Once consists of short, autobiographical sketches relating Wenders' experiences—both meaningful and apparently trivial—on his trips across the world scouting locations for his films, as well as photographs taken during these excursions. The resulting book is at once travel diary, photo album, and a series of short films or short stories—revealing the views and sentiments of an auteur inspired by the poetry of the eye and the melody of speech. Fascinating and revelatory, Once gives us a unique look at the universe Wenders has created out of the hidden pieces of everyday life.
Wim Wenders: Places, Strange and Quiet, 12 postcards
Wim Wenders: Places, Strange and Quiet
Wim Wenders: Places, Strange and Quiet
Wim Wenders: Once