Book of the day > Yoko Ishii - Dear Deer. Little More. “Wild deer inhabit the urban centres of Nara and Miyajima in Japan. Long revered at Nara’s Kasuga Shrine, the animals have been designated a national treasure and are protected. The local government in Miyajima, however, has prohibited the feeding of deer in an attempt to separate them from the human habitat. Yet, some sympathetic people still feed the deer, which are confronted with a shortage of food due to an increasing population. Car accidents caused by the animals have also increased, compounding this serious issue. In her series of photographs, Yoko Ishii shows the freedom deer have to transgress the boundaries between humans and nature.”

Book of the day > Bruce Davidson: Survey. Aperture and Fundación Mapfre. “Bruce Davidson is a pioneer of social documentary photography. He began taking photographs at the age of ten and continued to develop his passion at Rochester Institute of Technology and Yale University. Later called upon for military service, Davidson met Henri Cartier-Bresson in France and was introduced to Magnum Photos. In his work, Davidson prizes his relationship to the subject above all else. From his profound documentation of the civil rights movement to his in-depth study of one derelict block in Harlem, he has immersed himself fully in his projects, which have sometimes taken him several years to complete. He once wrote, 'I often find myself an outsider on the inside, discovering beauty and meaning in the most desperate of situations.

This survey, created in conjunction with an exhibition at Fundación Mapfre in Spain, focuses on the work that has made Davidson one of the most influential documentary photographers to this day. In addition to his civil rights series and his work in Harlem, the book includes Davidson’s well-known series Brooklyn Gang, Subway, and Central Park. The book also highlights more recent projects, such as his explorations of Paris and Los Angeles landscapes.”

Book of the day > Death Takes a Holiday by Darin Mickey. J & L Books (@jandlbooks). “In 2014, New York–based photographer Darin Mickey began documenting a handful of record shops in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania—independently run stores that opened primarily in the 1960s, ‘70s and ‘80s, many of which are now on their last legs, or have recently been shuttered. These stores are the alphabetized havens for the musical successes of a few and the forgotten failures of many. Shot from the perspective of a middle-aged man restlessly clinging to his youth and the hope of finding that elusive artifact to make anxiety subside and keep the reaper at bay, Death Takes a Holiday shows us a community of beautiful recluses brought together by obsession, compulsion and a pure, undying love of music.”

Book of the day > William Eggleston Portraits. Yale University Press. “The eminent American photographer William Eggleston was a pioneer in exploring the artistic potential of color photography. Eggleston made a name for himself with his eccentric, unexpected compositions of everyday life that were nonetheless rife with implied narrative, elevating the commonplace to art. This sumptuously illustrated book features Eggleston’s masterful portraits, including many familiar and beloved images as well as some previously unseen photographs from his long and productive career.  Many of Eggleston’s poetic photographs portray life in his home state of Tennessee, and the people he encountered there. Eggleston frequented the 1970s Memphis club scene, where he met, befriended, and photographed musicians such as fellow Southerners Alex Chilton and Ike Turner. He also photographed celebrities including Dennis Hopper, Walter Hopps, and Eudora Welty, and became a fixture of Andy Warhol’s Factory scene, dating the Warhol protégé Viva. Over the past half century, he has created a powerful and enduring body of work featuring friends and family, musicians, artists, and strangers. In addition to the lavish reproductions of Eggleston’s portraits, this volume includes an essay and chronology, plus an interview with Eggleston and his close family members that gives new insights into his images and artistic process.”

Book of the day > H.R. Giger: Alien Diaries. Edition Patrick Frey. “H.R. Giger worked in the Shepperton Studios near London from February to November 1978, creating the figures and sets for the film Alien (1979) directed by Ridley Scott. The film became an international success, earning Giger an Oscar. In the transcribed Alien Diaries, published here for the first time as a facsimile, HR Giger describes his work in the studios. He writes, sketches, and takes photographs with his Polaroid SX70. With brutal honesty, sarcasm and occasional despair, Giger describes what it is like working for the film industry and how he struggles against all odds — be it the stinginess of producers or the sluggishness of his staff — to see his designs become reality. The Alien Diaries (in German transcription with an English translation) show a little-known personal side of the artist HR Giger and offer an unusual, detailed glimpse into the making of a movie classic through the eyes of a Swiss artist. The book contains almost completely unpublished material, including drawings, Polaroids showing the monster coming to life, and several still shots from the plentiful film material that Giger took in Shepperton.”

Book of the day > Black Cowboys by Andrea Robbins & Max Becher. La Fabrica. “In the popular imagination, the cowboy has long been identified as white--but at the height of the cattle-ranching period in the 19th century, more than one third of cowboys were African American. Black cowboy culture is still thriving today, but is little known to the general public. This marginalization stems from both official and unofficial segregation in competitive rodeos, as well as Hollywood’s commercially driven exclusion of black cowboys from Western genre films and television.  Beginning in 2008, Andrea Robbins and Max Becher set out to photograph this history and its legacy in contemporary black cowboy culture, shooting black riding clubs, black rodeo leagues and charity events across America. In this volume, Robbins and Becher document this hidden history of the black cowboy and cowgirl and, in the process, reformulate and expand the iconography of the cowboy.”

“Throwback” book of the day (only one copy available, act fast!) > Japanese Fisherman’s Coats from Awaji Island. Fowler Museum.” A lasting contribution to the study of Japanese textiles and to the cultural history of the Inland Sea region, this volume presents a historical ethnography of the fishing villages that produced the sashiko no donza, or fisherman’s coat. It provides as well an in-depth analysis of regional textile production, the sashiko tradition in the village of Hokudan, and the iconography of the eloquently stitched designs that appear on the coats.” An immaculate copy of the scarce hardbound edition. $ 225. 

Book of the day > Summer Days Staten Island by Christine Osinski. Damiani. “Taken in the ‘forgotten borough’ of Staten Island between 1983 and 1984, the photographs in Christine Osinski’s 'Summer Days Staten Island' create a portrait of working class culture in an often overlooked section of New York City. Captured on Osinski’s large format 4 x 5 camera as she wandered the island, her candid portraits of strangers, vernacular architecture, and quotidian scenes reveal an invisible landscape within reach
of the thriving metropolis of Manhattan. The neighborhoods that Osinski captured are devoid of the skyscrapers, swarms
of pedestrians, and choking masses of traffic that are a short ferry ride away. Instead, she photographed kids riding bikes
on open, empty streets, suburban homes with neatly tended yards, and the small-town feel of New York’s least populous borough.”

Book of the day > Kati Heck. Hatje Cantz. “German Expressionism and New Objectivity shine forth in the paintings of Düsseldorf-based artist Kati Heck. Her monumental paintings impress viewers with their humorous blend of styles, consisting of photorealistic figures together with graphic elements. Some sections of her collage-like works are meticulously painted in, while others are quickly executed. Like Robert Rauschenberg, Heck joins nontraditional materials and everyday objects to develop highly unusual pictorial creations. ‘She clearly, convincingly and permanently questions the art of painting,’ said curator Jan Hoet of her oeuvre. This volume explores the painting of one of the liveliest emerging artists of the present.”

Book of the day > The Smiths by Nalinee Darmrong. Rizzoli. “The definitive pictorial document of The Smiths, showcasing never-before-published photographs of one of the most influential bands of the late twentieth century at the apex of its popularity. Today, The Smiths are considered one of the most influential rock bands of the late twentieth century. The fact that they disbanded—after a little more than four years and seventy songs—abruptly and explosively on the brink of becoming megastars, only adds to the rabid, cult devotion of their fans. Photographer Nalinee Darmrong traveled with and captured the band during its peak years: Meat Is Murder and The Queen Is Dead tours 1985–1986. This volume is filled with reams of photographs of the band backstage and onstage, most unpublished; ephemera including original set lists, backstage passes, tickets, and handcrafted promo materials; personal effects such as letters and clothing, and other items. The photographs impart the frenetic energy of the band during performances, and a private, almost familial chronicle of the band offstage and behind the scenes. Equal parts intimate time capsule and a love letter to The Smiths, the book is a look at this important band during the height of its creative period.”