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This book celebrates a remarkable achievement - the successful cooperation between one of the greatest photographers of the 20th Century, Irving Penn, and the Japanese designer Issey Miyake. Together they have managed not only to combine the Occident with the Orient but raise fashion to the status of art. The result is classical and futuristic at once, their fruitful encounter achieving a remarkable stylistic symbiosis.

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Der japanische Modedesigner Issey Miyake hat einen Sonderstatus. Das liegt nicht zuletzt auch daran, dass er für «Mode» nichts übrig hat, das Wort «Designer» für unzutreffend hält und sich lieber als «Kleiderfabrikant» bezeichnet. Aber macht der heute 61jährige Entwerfer wirklich nur Kleider? «Making Things» hiess seine letzte Ausstellung (NZZ 6. 1. 99): Als (Kunst-)Gegenstände sind denn auch Miyakes Kreationen seit den späten siebziger Jahren immer wieder in Museen gezeigt worden. 

In seinen fast 200 Aufnahmen, die seit 1986 entstanden und von denen jetzt 112 im Bildband «Irving Penn betrachtet das Werk von Issey Miyake» veröffentlicht worden sind, begreift auch der Photograph Irving Penn Miyakes Kleider als Kunstgegenstände. Das Buch hält, was sein Titel verspricht, mehr aber auch nicht. Der einleitende Essay kann weder inhaltlich noch sprachlich befriedigen. Vergeblich sucht man eine Erklärung für jene Photos, auf denen eine Etappe aus dem Entstehungsprozess eines Kleidungsstücks abgebildet ist. Dabei sind die vielfältigen, originellen Methoden, mit einem (Roh-)Stoff umzugehen, Miyakes Markenzeichen; ohne Erläuterungen vermag man auf besagten Abbildungen oft nicht mehr zu erkennen als verknotete Taschentücher oder dreifarbige Metallstreifen. Auch was die fertigen Kleider betrifft, hätte man ein paar Angaben zu den Materialien, den Models usw. erwartet.

Doch wo die Form zu wünschen übriglässt, beglückt der Inhalt. Penn, der sowohl Traumfrauen für «Vogue» als auch Eingeborenenstämme in Neuguinea oder Dahomey photographiert hat, betrachtet Miyakes Kleider wie selbständige Wesen mit einem magischen Eigenleben. Eine Form von Animismus schwingt mit. Das Model tritt demgegenüber zurück: Arme und Beine sind entweder gar nicht zu sehen oder in grotesken, rituellen, in jedem Fall unnatürlichen Stellungen; die Gesichter werden bald durch eine Kapuze, bald durch eine Perücke verdeckt oder zu Masken geschminkt. Das widerspricht zwar Miyakes Wunsch, dass seine Kreationen wie eine zweite Haut wirken sollten, fördert jedoch deren expressives Potential zutage, das im Suggestiven, Märchenhaft-Verwunschenen wurzelt. 

So wirkt das Buch wie ein Reigen von mysteriösen, keck-ironischen, manchmal auch beängstigenden, stets aber hoch individualisierten Kreaturen aus (viel) Stoff und (ein wenig) Haut: Ritter in schwarzglänzenden Papierrüstungen mit riesigen Halskrausen, breitbeinige Clowns mit aufblasbaren Spitzhüten aus Plastic, ein Plüschaffe mit grossen, kakaofarbenen Gürteltaschen zum Bananensammeln, ein hautfarbener Ganzkörperbody mit aufgedruckten Tattoo-Mustern, ein abstrakt-silberner, plissierter Weihnachtsbaum. Stoffe, so ursprünglich wie Erde, so zart wie Spinnweben. Als letztes Bild ein Anzug aus der (wie der Bildband verschweigt) «Starburst»-Linie von 1998: Recycling-Kleider für Grossstadtastronauten, mit aufgepressten Metallblättern, goldbronzen schimmernd. Zum Auf-den-Mond-Fliegen.

112 colour plates and 22 illustrations

- This book celebrates a remarkable achievement - the successful cooperation between one of the greatest photographers of the 20th Century, Irving Penn, and the Japanese designer Issey Miyake. Together they have managed not only to combine the Occident with the Orient but raise fashion to the status of art. The result is classical and futuristic at once, their fruitful encounter achieving a remarkable stylistic symbiosis.
- Issey Miyake's Kleider in Photographien von Irving Penn

The definitive book on the work of a virtuosic and revered American photographer Irving Penn (1917-2009) was among the most esteemed and influential photographers of the 20th century.

Over the course of a nearly seventy-year career, he mastered a pared-down aesthetic of studio photography that is distinguished for its meticulous attention to composition, nuance, and detail.

This indispensable book features one of the largest selections of Penn's photographs ever compiled, including famous and beloved images as well as works that have never been published. Celebrating the centennial of Penn's birth, this lavish volume spans the entirety of his groundbreaking career. An enlightening introduction situates his work in the context of the various artistic, social, and political environments and events that affected the content of his photographs.

Lively essays acquaint readers with Penn's primary subjects and campaigns, including early documentary scenes and imagery; portraits; fashion; female nudes; peoples of Peru, Dahomey (Benin), New Guinea, and Morocco; still lifes; and much more.

Irving Penn: Centennial is essential for any fan of this artist's work or the history of 20th-century photography.

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The catalogue produced to accompany the landmark "Irving Penn: Centennial" retrospective (on view at The Metropolitan Museum of Art from April 24 through July 30) offers an extensive and scholarly look at the many facets of Penn’s career.

An enlightening introduction situates his work in the context of the various artistic, social, and political environments and events that affected the content of his photographs. Lively essays acquaint readers with Penn's primary subjects and campaigns, including early documentary scenes and imagery; portraits of cultural figures and celebrities; fashion; female nudes; peoples of Peru, Dahomey (Benin), New Guinea, and Morocco; and still-lifes. Rounding out the book are discussions of Penn's advertising pictures and his painstaking printing processes, as well as an illustrated chronology. 

Irving Penn: Centennial, by Maria Morris Hambourg, Jeff L. Rosenheim; with contributions by Alexandra Dennett, Philippe Garner, Adam Kirsch, Harald E.L. Prins, Vasilios Zatse

Published by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Distributed by Yale University Press, New Haven and London
Printed in Italy
372 pages; 365 color, tritone, and quadtone illustrations; chronology; index

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Пролистать книгу Irving Penn: Centennial на Google Books.

51 tritone plates

“Is that so Kid” was a typical reaction by the film director, John Huston, father of Anjelica. In 1973 Bailey did all his major fashion shoots for British Vogue with actress and then sometimes model, Anjelica Huston. The book is a record of this photographic collaboration.

A marvelously illustrated look at the world and the work of Isabella Blow, a central figure in the contemporary fashion world.

From her early days bringing legendary artists such as Michel Basquiat into the offices of American Vogue to the twenty-first-century drama of her televised attempted takeover of the Indian and Middle-Eastern fashion industries, the awesome Isabella Blow pushed boundaries in the fashion world, using her personality as her most offensive weapon. Famous for discovering talents such as Alexander McQueen, Sophie Dahl, and Hussein Chalayan, she nurtured and inspired artists and designers across the industry, as well as serving as muse to the well-known milliner Philip Treacy. She was also a unique stylist, collaborating with major photographers such as Sean Ellis and Robert Astley Sparke on infamous shoots that combined gothic and erotic.

Martina Rink has brought together all those who were moved, influenced, discovered, and inspired by Isabella, in a volume that celebrates not only her life but also her outrageous personality, which left an indelible mark on all who met her. Texts and personal letters written exclusively for this book have been collected from legendary names in the fashion world, from Mario Testino and Manolo Blahnik to Hussein Chalayan and Anna Wintour. There are photographs by some of fashion’s greatest photographers, including Rankin, Donald McPherson, and Richard Burbridge, and illustrations by Hilary Knight and Paul Smith, in a homage to Isabella that celebrates her astonishing life.

Italian car design engenders a unique sense of passion in drivers and car enthusiasts everywhere. Its great names – Alfa Romeo, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Lancia, Maserati – are associated with some of the most charismatic and exciting cars ever made, and resonate the world over. This lavishly illustrated book brings together more than 55 of the most important Italian cars designed from 1907 to the present day, each one representing a key moment in Italian car design. With an introduction describing the epic history of Italian motoring and its great marques, a succinct description of each car’s history, design and performance, and the unparalleled photographs of one of the world’s top car photographers, this book is the definitive testament to the original car-styling 'capital' of the world.

A stunning collection of Italian car legends, including many of the most seductive and exhilarating cars ever made
Features biographies of all the key designers, a full technical glossary and details of where the cars may be seen worldwide
This sumptuously produced book will appeal to classic car enthusiasts worldwide

In a remarkable debut from a rapidly rising photographer, Kevin Landers intimately connects us with the quotidian objects and moments that make up the topography of New York City. Jackpot is a 17-year retrospective of his candid and unvarnished encounters with entities and artifacts that capture the grittiness, incongruity, and simplicity of a metropolis that harbors relics of all proportions.

“…the images function as a kind of survey of New York during an era in which downtown transformed itself from an immigrant and artist district to one with Whole Foods on major cross-streets and luxury high-rises on unlikely avenues like the Bowery. Mr.Landers ignores the new arrivals and focuses on the old guard….And while [the images] owe plenty to color photography pioneers like William Eggleston and Stephen Shore - saturated prints, lingering on the odd, quirky object - they are grounded in a locale and moment of their own.”
 - The New York Times

“A survey of the color photographs that Landers made between 1990 and 2007 showcases a slacker sensibility too amused and blasé to be seriously cynical. Like a grungier Martin Parr or Tony Feher with a camera, Landers makes pictures of people and products that tease Pop mercilessly. Studio still-lifes of panhandlers’ cups, three-card-monte cardboard totems, and plastic bags snagged on broken branches rescue their subjects as found sculpture….Call it photography of the absurd, but nobody does it better.”
 - The New Yorker

Jacques-Henri Lartigue (1894-1986) is a central figure of importance in the history of photography. "An amateur graced with genius for forms", at the age of 12 he was already producing photographs capturing the carefree antics of his eccentric family and friends. It was in these early years that he developed a fascination for the subjects that concerned him throughout his life: the immensity of the world to a child; the seaside; women of fashion; and above all, movement -from people walking or jumping, to flying machines and motor cars. Lartigue's photographic work was little-known until the 1960s, which gave him a unique freedom to create images for himself alone, unfettered by the criticism of others. His images evoke the sparkle of a long-gone era, documenting an idyllic world of ladies with parasols and gravity-defying hats; people flying kites or strolling in the park, on bicyles and at the races. This book offers an illustrated tribute to this photographer.

James Dean died at the age of 24, yet half a century later his mystique is unfaded. Had luck favored him that fatal evening, he might still be with us, an actor in the same generation as Paul Newman, Clint Eastwood, Gene Hackman, and Sean Connery. His phenomenally charismatic performances in such classics as Rebel Without a Cause and East of Eden have immortalized him as a cinematic great. Dean also had serious ambitions of becoming a writer-director, and it is haunting to imagine what he might have done if his life had not been cut short. He remains such icon of gifted youth: even 50 years after his death, we still look at James Dean in full suspense, wondering how he’s going to turn out.

The Movie Icon series: People talk about Hollywood glamour, about studios that had more stars than there are in heaven, about actors who weren't actors but were icons. Other people talk about these things, TASCHEN shows you. Movie Icons is a series of photo books that feature the most famous personalities in the history of cinema. These 192-page books are visual biographies of the stars. For each title, series editor Paul Duncan has painstaking selected approximately 150 high quality enigmatic and sumptuous portraits, colorful posters and lobby cards, rare film stills, and previously unpublished candid photos showing the stars as they really are. These images are accompanied by concise introductory essays by leading film writers; each book also includes a chronology, a filmography, and a bibliography, and is peppered with apposite quotes from the movies and from life.

Je t’aime...moi non plus. The Jane Birkin and Serge Gainsbourg family album

The highly public love affair of French singer-songwriter Serge Gainsbourg and British actress Jane Birkin captured the hearts and imaginations of a generation. The moment Jane and Serge met on a movie set in 1968, sparks flew. They would spend the next 12 years together, a passionate union that produced the controversial duet "Je t’aime... moi non plus" (whose explicit lyrics and orgasmic moans caused so much fuss that the Vatican declared it offensive) and, in 1971, the legendary album Melody Nelson as well as a daughter, Charlotte, who has become a successful actress in her own right. From the earliest days of Jane and Serge's romance until their split in 1980, Jane’s brother Andrew Birkin was a frequent presence in their lives; an avid photographer, he snapped thousands of candid family photos during those years. Birkin’s pictures — very few of which have ever been published — offer a rare view of daily life for the couple, bringing us back to a place and time we have long idolized. Though more than 30 years have passed since the two parted ways, and over two decades since Serge parted from this world, the passion for Jane and Serge has endured. This treasure trove is sure to fan the flames of its undying embers.

Designed by M/M (Paris), the photo album comes in a clear plastic cover with the following goodies tucked inside:

- Text booklet featuring an introduction by Jane Birkin and Andrew Birkin’s memoir of Jane and Serge, illustrated by Birkin family childhood photos
- Softcover contact sheet booklet
- Fold-out poster
- 5 photo prints
- Sticker sheet
- Embroidered patch

This exhibition, consisting of works created in or after 1990 and selected from the museum's collection, attempts to reflect not only the new paradigm that has emerged in contemporary art but also how it has gradually worked its way into the collection. Janus: The Double Face of Photography takes its name from the mythological Roman god who was represented by two faces looking in opposite directions, symbolising change and transition. The name of Janus has been used as a metaphor for the transformation of photography, arrayed in a series of dichotomies: analogue/ digital, negative/ positive, monochrome/ colour, reality/ fiction, creation/ manipulation and documentary/ artistic. The exhibition is divided into three thematic sections where the critical perspectives of the different artists converge: architecture, nature and people. A political dimension ties them together and connects with the viewing public.

Timeless Beauty. Land of the Rising Sun at the Turn of the Century

The Golden Age of Travel neatly overlaps with the reign of the Emperor Meiji, which began in 1868 with the overthrow of a feudal order that had kept Japan secluded from the outside world for more than 200 years. In the ensuing four-and-a-half decades, Japan became a less remote and more attractive destination for the international traveler and a popular subject for photographers, both Japanese and foreign.

In 536 pages, this book presents more than 700 vintage images of Japan, texts by a specialist in early Japanese photography, and extensive commentary through thematic sections exploring traditions as varied as tea, silk and Buddhism, as well as itineraries across five regions, all of which guide the reader through this captivating land.

Our travels take us from the enchanting vistas of Nagasaki to the seagirt shrine of Miyajima, long esteemed among the "Three Views" considered the most beautiful in Japan; from the rambling streets of Kobe to the energetic bustle of Osaka; from the cornucopia of historic sights in the ancient cities of Kyoto and Nara to the twin delights of shopping and sex in the vibrant modern port of Yokohama; from the timeless beauty of Mount Fuji and the mountainside scenery of nearby Hakone to the urban melange of Japan’s modern capital, where the traditions of Edo and the modernity of Tokyo co-existed; and, finally, from the jewel-like architecture of Nikkō set amidst forests and waterfalls to the islet-studded bay of Matsushima, until our journey ends in the remote wilds of Hokkaido, home to the indigenous Ainu.

The authors:

Sebastian Dobson is an independent scholar of the history of early photography in Japan and East Asia. He lectures widely in Europe, the United States, Australia and Japan, and his publications include encyclopedia entries, book reviews, numerous articles and catalogue essays for exhibitions hosted in Boston, Singapore and Tokyo.

Sabine Arqué is a photo researcher, editor, and author. She has collaborated on numerous publications on the themes of travel, the history of tourism, and photography.

200 black & white plates

Jean-Louis Dumas always carries with him two things, a small red notebook and an old Leica. He has taken photographs all his life, mostly in black and white, cataloguing momentous moments and trivial asides on his extensive travels with work, family and friends. Dumas is a sophisticated amateur photographer whose professional milieu, as creative director of Hermès for 30 years, and friendships with masters of the medium such as Edouard Boubat, have instilled in his photography an elegant sensibility. This collection brings together a life’s work and reflects a love affair with photography.

“I have been searching for time past all my life.” - Jeanloup Sieff In this unique monograph, Jeanloup Sieff (1933-2000) retraces in word and image the course of forty years of photographs, encounters, and memories. Divided into four chapters, from the 50s to the 90s, the book brings together the major photographs of a creator who left his imprint on a generation with prolific work in the fields of fashion, advertising, and portrait photography. Sieff’s art testifies to his tireless quest to capture the fleeting beauty of “temps perdu,” or “time which cannot recur.”