Back in print, this multilayered portrait of “the violet isle”—a little-known name for Cuba inspired by the rich color of the soil there—presents an engaging, at times unsettling document of a vibrant and vulnerable land. It combines two separate photographic visions: Alex Webb’s exploration of street life, with his attuned and complex attention to detail, and Rebecca Norris Webb’s fascination with the unique, quixotic collections of animals she discovered there, from tiny zoos and pigeon societies to hand-painted natural history displays and quirky personal menageries.
The result is an insightful and intriguing blend of two different aesthetics inspired by Cuba’s existence over the last 50 years in an economic, political, cultural and ecological bubble virtually untouched by the rest of the world, and unlikely to remain that way for much longer. Award-winning writer Pico Iyer provides an accompanying essay for this English/Spanish bilingual edition.
Located in Rochester, New York, Eastman Kodak was one of the world’s leading manufacturers of photographic film for 125 years. Following the company’s declaration of bankruptcy in 2012, photographers Alex Webb (born 1952) and Rebecca Norris Webb (born 1956) traveled to Rochester to capture images of the city during the twilight of Kodak’s existence. Memory City responds to the uncertain future of Kodak film as a medium by presenting a view of Rochester that reflects the city’s prosperous past and current troubles. Usually known for his color work, for this project Alex Webb used his final rolls of Kodachrome--a color film now only able to be processed in black and white--to capture Rochester’s fading grandeur. He also photographed the city’s streets in digital color. Rebecca’s photographs consist of color portraits and still-lifes of Rochester’s women, both young and old, taken using Portra--one of Kodak’s last films. For this publication, the artists have also created a timeline of Rochester’s cultural history, tracing the evolution of the complex, once-vibrant city. This book also contains quotations from many of the famous writers and thinkers who have been connected to Rochester and its environs, including women’s rights activist Susan B. Anthony, abolitionist Frederick Douglass, and poets John Ashbery and Ilya Kaminsky.
The Suffering of Light is the first comprehensive monograph charting the career of acclaimed American photographer Alex Webb. Gathering some of his most iconic images, many of which were taken in the far corners of the earth, this exquisite book brings a fresh perspective to his extensive catalog. Recognized as a pioneer of American color photography since the 1970s, Webb has consistently created photographs characterized by intense color and light. His work, with its richly layered and complex composition, touches on multiple genres, including street photography, photojournalism, and fine art, but as Webb claims, "to me it all is photography. You have to go out and explore the world with a camera." Webb's ability to distill gesture, color and contrasting cultural tensions into single, beguiling frames results in evocative images that convey a sense of enigma, irony and humor. Featuring key works alongside previously unpublished photographs, The Suffering of Light provides the most thorough examination to date of this modern master's prolific, 30-year career. The photographs of Alex Webb (born 1952) have appeared in a wide range of publications, including The New York Times Magazine, Life, Stern and National Geographic, and have been exhibited at the International Center of Photography, New York; Walker Art Center, Minneapolis; and the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York. He is a recipient of the Leica Medal of Excellence (2000) and the Premio Internacional de Fotografia Alcobendas (2009). A member of Magnum Photos since 1976, Webb lives in New York City.
PUBLISHER Aperture
BOOK FORMAT Hardcover, 13 x 12 in. / 204 pgs / 115 color.
PUBLISHING STATUS Pub Date 5/31/2011 No longer our product
DISTRIBUTION Contact Publisher Catalog:
PRODUCT DETAILS ISBN 9781597111737TRADE List Price: $65.00 CDN $75.00
The Violet Isle is a little-known nickname for Cuba, inspired by its richly colored soil--one of the many qualities that make the country so seductive to photographers. This handsomely designed, slipcased edition offers an engaging, at times unsettling document of a country that, for the past 50 years, has remained in an economic, political, cultural and ecological bubble, isolated from the rest of the world (though it is unlikely to stay that way for much longer). The 70 images collected here are a collaboration between Magnum photographer Alex Webb, who captures Cuba's street life with his trademark attention to detail and color, and Rebecca Norris Webb, who focuses on the unique, quixotic collection of animals she found there. This volume is an insightful blend of two different photographic aesthetics. The famous travel writer Pico Iyer provides an accompanying essay.
In Istanbul: City of a Hundred Names, Magnum photographer Alex Webb displays his particular ability to distill gesture, color and contrasting cultural tensions into a single, beguiling frame. He presents a vision of Istanbul as an urban cultural center, rich with the incandescence of its past--a city of minarets and pigeons rising to the heavens during the early-morning call to Muslim prayers--yet also a city riddled with ATM machines and clothed in designer jeans. Webb began photographing Istanbul in 1998, and became instantly enthralled: by the people, the layers of culture and history, the richness of street life. But what particularly drew him in was a sense of Istanbul as a border city, lying between Europe and Asia. "For 30-some years as a photographer, I have been intrigued by borders, places where cultures come together, sometimes easily, sometimes roughly." The resulting body of work, some of Webb's strongest to date, conveys the frisson of a culture in transition, yet firmly rooted in a complex history. With essay by the Nobel Prize winning novelist, Orhan Pamuk.
PUBLISHER Aperture
BOOK FORMAT Hardcover, 11.75 x 10 in. / 136 pgs / 77 color.
PUBLISHING STATUS Pub Date 5/1/2007 No longer our product
DISTRIBUTION Contact Publisher Catalog:
PRODUCT DETAILS ISBN 9781597110341TRADE List Price: $50.00 CDN $60.00
Alex Webb & Rebecca Norris Webb: Memory City
Alex Webb: The Suffering of Light
Alex Webb & Rebecca Norris Webb: Violet Isle
Alex Webb: Istanbul