Book of the Day Posted Sep 12, 2025

Book of the Day: Richard Prince - Early Photography 1977-1987

From the publisher: "This book was published on the occasion of three exhibitions by Richard Prince at Gagosian—Early Photography, 1977–87 at the Grosvenor Hill and West 21st Street galleries in London and New York, respectively, and The Entertainers at the Davies Street gallery in London. (The New York exhibition brought together the works from the two London exhibitions.) The presentations featured many of Prince’s iconic cowboy, girlfriend, and advertisement photographs, as well as the complete series of The Entertainers (1982–83), a rarely seen set of manipulated photographs that evoke the adult entertainment theaters prevalent in New York’s Times Square in the early 1980s. Writings by the artist and source material from his time working in the tear-sheet department at Time magazine are also included. The catalogue reproduces the over seventy exhibited works and archival materials along with installation photography, supplemented by rarely seen documents and work prints from the artist’s archive. An illustrated eight-section essay by Sydney Stutterheim follows the structure of Prince’s circa 1977 text “The 8-Track Photograph,” illuminating his foundational project in depth and connecting it to multitrack recording in music. Stutterheim explores the origins, processes, components, and lasting significance of “rephotography,” through which Prince appropriated images from advertising and the lifestyle press, redefining the concepts of authorship and originality." Book of the day.
Events Posted Sep 11, 2025

Susan Meiselas's "Nicaragua" is Our Book of the Day! And a Talk and Signing!

🚨reissued masterpiece alert … and a talk and a signing 🚨 Originally published in 1981, Susan Meiselas’ Nicaragua is a modern classic - a seminal contribution to the literature of concerned photojournalism that forms an extraordinary narrative of a nation in turmoil. Starting with a powerful and chilling evocation of the Somoza regime during its decline in the late 1970s, the images trace the evolution of the popular resistance that led to the insurrection, culminating with the triumph of the Sandinista revolution in 1979.

A brand new 2025 Aperture third, updated edition of this essential book is now available here from Arcana, AND ALSO… As the highlight of PAC LA‘s Year of the Woman programming initiative, in partnership with Eastman Museum Los Angeles and American Cinemateque, there will be an afternoon with the acclaimed documentary photographer and president of Magnum Foundation, Susan Meiselas. Susan’s talk will center around her Nicaragua work over multiple decades and the various forms it has taken, as a book, exhibition, and film, tracing the lives of her images as they have circulated and been repatriated, shifting their meaning over time.

MS. MEISELAS WILL BE SIGNING COPIES FOR ARCANA ON SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 13th AT SANTA MONICA’S AERO THEATER BETWEEN 2:00 AND 5:00 PM. RSVP HERE
 
If you can't make it but would like to buy a signed copy of Nicaragua you can do so here.
Book of the Day Posted Sep 10, 2025

Book of the Day: Mimi Plumb - The Reservoir

From the photographer, via the publisher: “From 2021 to 2023, I photographed around two reservoirs in the Central Valley of California experiencing a twenty-three year megadrought. The Reservoir weaves together images of the drying lakes and people seeking a leisurely day at the beach. They bring their dogs, babies and baby carriages, inner tubes, kayaks, rafts, umbrellas, coolers, and tents. As the summer progresses and the waterline recedes, families walk over a mile to reach the beach. At times, the sky is colored with smoke from nearby forest fires. The photographs in The Reservoir are part of an ongoing exploration in my work of how droughts, climate change, and ever-present anxiety collectively maps onto life in the American West.” — Mimi Plumb. Book of the day, from Nazraeli Press.
Book of the Day Posted Sep 05, 2025

Book of the Day: Richard Avedon -- In the American West

From the publisher: "An exquisitely produced new publication of In the American West: Photographs by Richard Avedon, a landmark project of classic American photography. First published by Abrams in 1985 in conjunction with the groundbreaking exhibition at the Amon Carter Museum in Fort Worth, Texas, the book is now available in this lush 40th anniversary edition. Richard Avedon was the greatest American photographer of his generation. For In the American West, he traveled for five years, meeting and photographing the ordinary people populating America’s most extraordinary landscape. The resulting book includes 103 meticulously printed black-and-white photographs, an essay by Avedon on his working methods and portrait philosophy, and a journal of the project by Laura Wilson. The reissuing of this legendary book, out of print for more than a decade, is a major publishing event in the photography world." Book of the day in the West!
Book of the Day Posted Sep 04, 2025

Book of the Day: Wolfgang Tillmans - Things matter, Dinge zählen

From the publisher: "Very few artists mirror our recent past as profoundly as Wolfgang Tillmans in their work. On the occasion of his exhibition Weltraum at the Albertinum in Dresden, Tillmans has created a unique artist's book that places his four decades of artistic practice in a thoughtprovoking dialogue with the past and present of East and West Germany. Things matter, Dinge zählen intertwines excerpts from a 1987 Dresden inventory catalogue with Tillmans' 2003 catalogue If one thing matters, everything matters for Tate Britain, in which he devised a speculative catalogue raisonné of his early work. The resurgence of these two out-of-print titles is combined with a conversation in which Tillmans reflects on his artistic beginnings and analyses their aesthetic and social implications today." Buch des Tages!
Book of the Day Posted Aug 30, 2025

Book of the Day: 3-D Doings

From the distributor: "Contemporaneous with the Pop art movement, Chicago Imagism can be characterized as warm and wacky—a stark contrast to the cooler, more aloof styles in New York and London. The Imagist movement (a term coined by art historian Franz Schulze in 1972) was propelled by a core group of artists—all graduates of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago—that exhibited their work together as The Hairy Who between 1966 and 1968 at the Hyde Park Art Center on Chicago’s South Side. Though each artist had their own fiercely unique style, they shared a similar interest in popular culture, comics and material objects. Suellen Rocca and Roger Brown manipulated and augmented mass-produced household items. Art Green and Eleanor Dube painted on shaped canvases. Other artists, such as Karl Wirsum, Christina Ramberg and Philip Hanson, used materials associated with craft. 3-D Doings explores the sculptural work and dimensional paintings of the Chicago Imagists. With a replica of Karl Wirsum’s Armpits on the cover—fake hair and all—the volume is a zany celebration of Imagist objects and their artists, featuring conversations with Suellen Rocca, Art Green, Gladys Nilsson and Philip Hanson, biographies of each artist and a dedicated ephemera section. Artists include: Don Baum, Roger Brown, Ed Flood, Art Green, Red Grooms, Ted Halkin, Philip Hanson, Gladys Nilsson, Jim Nutt, Christina Ramberg, Suellen Rocca, Barbara Rossi, Evelyn Statsinger, H.C. Westermann, Karl Wirsum, Ray Yoshida." This is our book of the day, and it's a great one, some might even say the best of the day!
Book of the Day Posted Aug 29, 2025

Book of the Day: Pamela Hanson - The '90s

From the publisher: "The iconic fashion photographer famous for capturing an ultrafeminine and adventurous spirit revisits her most memorable 1990s fashion images. Featuring the most recognizable faces from that decade, but seemingly still so fresh and relevant today. Quintessential nineties images, taken from editorials for fashion magazines as well as many never-before-seen outtakes of behind-the-scenes candid moments, constitute this book by Hanson, who is known for her unique female gaze and famous for capturing the essence of youth in her vibrant and highly energetic images of beautiful girls having fun. Texture, light, and emotion play a pivotal role in her iconic documentary-style work. The book features intimate photographs of her muses and the top supermodels of the era, including Kristen McMenamy, Christy Turlington, Carla Bruni, Stephanie Seymour, Eva Herzigová, Milla Jovovich, Linda Evangelista, and many more. This is the first major book of Hanson’s published in the last twenty years, and it presents a nostalgic time capsule of one of the most fetishized decades of fashion." Book of the day, or the decade?
Book of the Day Posted Aug 28, 2025

Book of the Day: Yoshitomo Nara

From the distributor: "Spanning four decades of work, this book offers readers the opportunity to immerse themselves in the personal and creative world of the Japanese artist Yoshitomo Nara, best known for his bold images of children with large heads and wide eyes that challenge viewers with their direct gaze and defiant stance. These captivating yet ominous characters are part of a wider visual vocabulary established by Nara to explore and communicate themes of home, isolation, resilience, belonging, regeneration, hope and freedom. Organized thematically, the book provides a comprehensive overview of the evolution and breadth of Nara's artistic expression. Yeewan Koon explores how Nara's singular aesthetic is drawn from his formative experiences in Japan, as well as his ongoing environmental and societal concerns, which are deeply rooted in nature and the communities of Japan's northern Tohoku region, where he grew up. Barry Schwabsky's essay, illustrated with details of the artworks, focuses in depth on Nara as a painter. Josh Kun discusses the inspiration Nara takes from popular music—folk songs by American singer-songwriters featuring anti-war messages, melancholic blues and, later, glam rock, punk and new wave. The book also features an in-depth chronology illustrated with childhood photographs and pictures of Nara's studio, offering a deep dive into Nara's life and art. The corresponding exhibition is co-organized by Guggenheim Bilbao, Museum Frieder Burda, Baden-Baden, and the Hayward Gallery." Book of the Day!
Book of the Day Posted Aug 24, 2025

Book of the Day: Tyler Mitchell - Wish This Was Real

From the publisher: "Tyler Mitchell’s photography is animated by dreams of paradise and joy against the backdrop of history. Since his rise to prominence in the worlds of art and fashion, Mitchell has created images of beauty, utopia, and the American landscape that expand the imaginary of Blackness in the twenty-first century. Wish This Was Real is the definitive early-career survey of Mitchell’s work, offering a comprehensive look into the subjects driving his artistic practice, from his genre-bending portraits made in the United States, Europe, and West Africa to his photographs printed on diaphanous fabrics and sculptures that reference Black intellectual heritage. Presenting new perspectives by leading writers on his long-standing themes of self-determination and the extraordinary radiance of the everyday, Wish This Was Real shows how photography can be rooted in a collective past while evoking imagined futures." Book of the Day! (Aperture, 2025)
Book of the Day Posted Aug 20, 2025

Book of the Day: The Grateful Dead by Jim Marshall

From the publisher: "Jim Marshall took thousands of photos of the Grateful Dead throughout their career—from Woodstock to the last free concert on Haight Street and beyond. Marshall’s magnificent images chronicle the band’s trajectory as hairstyles changed, relationships came and went, and the music evolved into the sound that would become beloved by generations to come. Marshall’s instinctive eye matched the Dead’s improvisational style, and he was welcomed into its family as he immersed himself in San Francisco’s counterculture scene throughout the 1960s and ’70s." Book of the day. Are you kind?
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