Book of the Day Posted Dec 30, 2020

Book of the Day > The Best of Nest

● Purchase ● The first comprehensive collection of Nest, the magazine that revolutionized the way we look at interior space and decoration
 
The brainchild of artist and designer Joe Holtzman, Nest magazine, published from 1997 to 2004, eschewed the conventionally beautiful luxury interiors of other magazines and instead featured non-traditional, exceptional, and unusual environments. The Best of Nest, created by master bookmaker Todd Oldham, includes selections from all 26 issues in a series of portfolios featuring the work of writers and photographers such as Michael Cunningham, Patti Smith, Nan Goldin, and Derry Moore. Holtzman also contributes an essay offering a look behind the scenes of each issue.
Book of the Day Posted Dec 29, 2020

Book of the Day > Pete Thompson: ’93 til

● Purchase ● With this year’s 2021 Summer Olympics hosted in Tokyo, Japan, skateboarding will make its Olympic debut; augmenting both park and street competitions for men and women. As this book is a culmination and photographic collection of the past three decade’s growth of skateboarding throughout the US focusing in on the pivotal decade of the 1990s, the addition of this sport in the summer’s upcoming games is of considerable relevance to the skateboarding pioneers featured in this work.
 
To be a skateboarder today is a much different experience than it was for much of the 1990s. The photographs, quotes, and anecdotal text in ’93 til captures a time in skateboarding when making a livable income as a professional skater was a rare luxury and public understanding of skateboarding was at an all-time low. It was a time when skateboarding was searching for an identity, a time before Instagram and big corporate influences. Street skating was coming of age, testing its limitations and aligning itself with a new and innovative style of hip-hop culture that was emerging. Looking back, many skaters today feel as though the ’90s were the golden years of skateboarding. ’93 til is a captivating portal into a decade and a culture that is remembered with warmth and nostalgia. Much of the photography that Pete has unearthed for ’93 til was buried in boxes for close to two decades and has never been seen or published before. The 230-page book also contains several timeless images from his years shooting for SLAP and Transworld Skateboarding Magazine that will be familiar to the initiated. In addition to his stunning action shots are plenty of portraits and unguarded, candid moments that span from the late ’80s up through 2004. The book reveals a raw, unapologetic perspective of a world that no longer exists.
 
Also included in the book alongside Pete Thompson’s imagery are quotes and anecdotes from legends like Tony Hawk, Arto Saari, Jamie Thomas, Guy Mariano, Nyjah Huston, Geoff Rowley, Stevie Williams and others. Although still a working photographer, Pete moved on from his career in skate photography in 2004 and is currently living in Brooklyn.
Book of the Day Posted Dec 26, 2020

Book of the Day > Harvey Stein: Then and There -- Mardi Gras 1979 (Signed)

● Purchase ● In Then and There, the well-known photographer Harvey Stein documents a crucial aspect of public behavior at the 1979 New Orleans Mardi Gras. Shooting with an instant SX-70 Polaroid camera, the process allowed Stein to directly interact with his subjects, who perform, observe, and even share in the photographic process. The 47 portraits are made just feet away from each person, mostly at dusk, sharply revealed by the light of the camera’s flash bar. His subjects creatively present themselves in diverse colorful masks, makeup, and revelry. Each portrait is a glimpse into a layered and hidden personal identity made possible by the collaborative choices of the photographer and the subjects acting in front of the camera. The raw excitement of Mardi Gras flows through each portrait with the people physically filling the entire frame of the Polaroid as if the print itself were a stage just for them. Mardi Gras allows both the subject and the photographer a moment of freedom to observe a transformation into another reality of being. Stein investigates these many themes throughout the book, and captures those flamboyant moments of lightning in a bottle with each Polaroid.
Book of the Day Posted Dec 21, 2020

Book of the Day > Teenage Styles and Trends 1967–71: A Retrospect

● Purchase ● Privately printed in a limited edition of 300 copies in Switzerland, the photo book “Teenage Styles and Trends 1967–71: A Retrospect” by American diplomat and art collector Burton Yost Berry (1901-1985) drew little attention back in 1972. Close to 50 years later, though, it is a sought-after icon of early street photography, rare and expensive, not at last due to its being featured in Parr’s & Badger’s “The Photobook: A History, Volume III.” A new reprint makes this gem of a photobook available again. Grafisches Centrum Cuno in Calbe/Germany digitized the original book, retouched it with an eye for detail, and printed it using latest Ultra HD technology – achieving brilliant images thanks to intelligent dot positioning and modulation. In terms of printing quality, the reprint may easily surpass the original of 1972. The English text remains untouched except for corrections of some smaller typos. Printed on Profisilk paper, coated, 170 g/qm, which slightly stronger grammage prevents images from showing through. The reprint’s dust jacket has a poster printed on the inside and the book has been printed in a limited edition of 500 copies.
Book of the Day Posted Dec 09, 2020

Holiday Staff Picks!

The picks are in! Each one of our fabulous, eccentric, and totally individual staff have picked their top books for holiday giving, getting, and recommending. You can see them here. Check back in again as new books arrive and the list is added to! Please note: quantities are limited and our orders and deliveries from publishers continue to be greatly impacted and delayed by the Covid crisis. We are doing our best to re-stock our favorites and have them available for you in time for your holiday celebrations.

These books on this list are fantastic and as varied , but keep in mind we have over 100,000 in store, including treasures such as posters, artwork, and ephemera and we are here to help with you shopping - and your own wish lists We are open Tuesday through Sunday, 11:00 am - 7:00 pm. If you're not comfortable coming in during business hours, we'll try to accomodate you during off-hours or by phone or video chat. We wrap and we ship around the world and can arrange for same day local delivery if you need it. Let us know what we can do for you!

And most of all, we wish you glad tidings of peace, joy, and good health for the Holidays and the New Year to come.

Love, Lee, Whitney, Russell, Emilia, Isabelle, Kevin

Image from staff favorite, re-printed and available at long last, Deana Lawson: An Aperture Monograph

Book of the Day Posted Dec 08, 2020

Book of the Day > Barbara Kasten: Works

● Purchase ● Over the past five decades, the American artist Barbara Kasten has created an impressive multimedia oeuvre, centred around her compelling photographs. Her works can be found in some of the most important museum collections worldwide (including The Museum of Modern Art, New York, Tate Modern, London, and Centre Pompidou, Paris).
 
This bilingual publication produced in close collaboration with the artist, presents a comprehensive overview of her oeuvre on more than 250 pages with numerous large-format illustrations – from early sculptures and photograms to her usually colourful, concrete photographs and the most recent video installations.
Book of the Day Posted Dec 03, 2020

Book of the Day > Flower Art: Makoto Azuma

● Purchase ● The art of Makoto Azuma uses flowers and plants as its starting point, but juxtaposes their timeless yet transient beauty with an incredibly diverse range of striking settings. In a series of sculptures, installations and interactive events, he delights in blurring the boundaries between nature and artifice.
 
Azuma founded the floral atelier Jardins des Fleurs in 2002, taking commissions from private clients as well as brands and corporations, both in Japan and all over the world. His parallel career as an artist began in 2005 and involves creating and exhibiting artworks that turn flowers and plants into a medium for self-expression. In 2008, Azuma founded AMKK (Azuma Makoto Kaju Kenkyujo), a group specializing in experimental floral creation, with the aim of seeking new forms of botanical beauty and new ways to exhibit them. His works have travelled the globe, from barren deserts to frozen expanses, from thousands of feet below the sea to the very edge of space. Featuring more than sixty projects captured in breathtaking photography, this beautiful book is the most comprehensive showcase of Azuma’s art ever published.
Book of the Day Posted Dec 01, 2020

Book of the Day > California Love: A Visual Mixtape

● Purchase ● Curated by Michael Rababy this book features the work of 110 photographers from all over California – celebrating what makes our diverse, inclusive, forward-thinking state so great. This is Rababy’s visual mixtape, featuring the greatest hits of friends’ and colleagues’ work that I’ve enjoyed through my years as a curator. I hope to share the excitement I have for great images the way I’ve shared my favorite rare grooves, B-sides, and bootleg recordings over my lifetime. All proceeds from sales of this book benefit the Los Angeles Center of Photography (LACP)
Book of the Day Posted Nov 20, 2020

Book of the Day > Interior Space: A Visual Exploration of the International Space Station

● Purchase ● Unseen images of the International Space Station, untenanted and eerie: the legacy of humanity's fragile foothold in space
 
On November 2 2020, NASA celebrated the 20th anniversary of continuous human habitation in space of the International Space Station. In Interior Space, American photographer Roland Miller and Italian astronaut and photographer Paolo Nespoli offer an in-depth portrait of the ISS, creating amazing unpeopled images of the interior of the ISS for the first time. As internationally acclaimed scholars of space archaeology Alice Gorman and Justin St. P. Walsh write in their essays, the ISS speaks not only of who we are and will be, but also of who we were. In 2024 the ISS will be abandoned; in 2028 it will be destroyed. This book provides us with an eerie account of what will remain in the space after our passing.
Book of the Day Posted Nov 19, 2020

Book of the Day > Magic Papers

● Purchase ● Magic is largely a solitary endeavour, but the channels of its tips and tricks had a little ‐ known heyday around a hundred years ago. That golden era circulated secrets in printed matter packed with flamboyant custom lettering, sensational language and mystifying illustrations — largely made by and for its own community, compiled and consumed by dedicated practitioners and hobbyists. Often unregulated and infrequently archived beyond private collections, these magic papers collided with cults of personality, unshakable passion, and a thirst for notoriety.
 
The book features a huge assembly of printed material from the collection of Philip David Treece, a magic expert dedicated to preserving a golden era of magic publishing. This collection celebrates journals, periodicals, books and other ephemera created for the magic community between 1890 and 1960. Each book includes a 16 page gloss insert featuring a collection of magical apparatus.
more