Search results for ""Purple Martin Press""

The latest book from New York-based photographer Peter Kayafas (born 1971) presents photographs from ten years and thousands of miles of travel in the plains states. A continuation of his 30 years of work along America's backroads, Kayafas uses his camera to explore the present state of the histories and ritualized traditions of the people who live in Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Colorado. Their way of life, their connection to the land and the animals that are their lifeblood, are enduring themes in this body of work. So too is the passage of young people from childhood into the adult world of hard work and knowledge about the struggles and challenges of life in the west. The backdrop for this subtle narrative is the beautiful, rugged and wide-open landscape of the west with all its layers and ironies. A brilliant essay by the celebrated writer Rick Bass accompanies the photographs.

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A subversive portrait of Beverly Hills in a gorgeous leporello format This leporello publication presents Brooklyn-based photographer Stephen Hilger’s (born 1975) color photographs of service alleys and the backside of houses separating the public from the private in the affluent suburb of Beverly Hills, California—a more anomalous view of the place by depicting the physical and symbolic spaces behind the homes of the area’s wealthy residents. Eva Díaz has written that Hilger’s emphasis suggests that “Beverly Hills is actually two cities, a ‘front’ city of impeccably maintained homes and a ‘back’ city that covertly services the front illusion. Hilger photographed their graffiti, security signage, crammed garbage cans, unaesthetic car parks and overgrown vegetation; the maintenance staff who work nearby; and the alleys’ most indelible feature, narrow, high walls that denote a claustrophobic refusal of inspection.” In the Alley features 22 panoramic photographs in a leporello-folded format so the reader can leaf through the photographs or expand the book-object for display. An essay by novelist Matthew Specktor maps out the significance of Hilger’s alley views in the context of personal histories and Hollywood stories. In a conversation, Hilger and photographer James Welling discuss their respective practices.

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An elegant collection of portraits of swimmers at Coney Island across two decades This collection of 30 photographs by American photographer Peter Kayafas (born 1971) depicts people swimming in the ocean at Coney Island, a location that has long served as a source of inspiration and fascination for artists. Made over the course of many summers and one particular winter during which Kayafas was a member of Coney Island’s legendary Polar Bear Club (the oldest winter bathing club in the United States) in the 1990s and 2000s, the photographs are filled with energy, movement, grace and a surprising intimacy. Using a waterproof camera, hidden just below the ocean’s surface, Kayafas captures candid snapshots of unsuspecting beachgoers. His focus on the swimmers over a period of two decades provides an extended insight into the elemental relationship humans have with water.

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