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San Francisco
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
March 2, 2020
I'm tempted to give this five stars, because it is exactly what it's supposed to be: an exceptionally high quality reproduction of the SF portfolio. The content is presented magnificently. Exceptional print quality, heavy paper, and in the case of the hardcover a deep black cloth binding on stiff boards in a size and shape reminiscent of a vinyl record sleeve, with elegant silver lettering. It's a beautiful book. On the other hand, the content is less interesting than the more familiar style adopted by the time of the later portfolios, so while I intend to give the others five stars, it would feel unfair to them to not mark this down for being less stimulating in its content. That said, these photos of San Francisco do reward repeat viewing and careful study, if only for the amazement of how these wonderful reproductions bring out distant powerlines and other tiny details that are invisible (or nearly so) in the typical reproductions of other books (I compared some of the plates directly against original HC Voyage of the Eye and the very well printed Out of the Shadow). But, though the images are impressive to look at, it's hard not to leave this book feeling like the work was produced during a relatively loose and casual phase for someone whose images tend to be so utterly tight and managed, and distinctive. In most of BW's work, I can feel the excitement he had for the subject and see the wheels turning on the tiny details, but in this collection, like in some of his 11x14 work, I don't immediately feel that sense of his interest and attention. I'm not suggesting they aren't good photos, but they're generic enough that you really need to be told they're BW's work.
The portfolio concludes with a brief essay giving a basic overview of who Brett was and what's in the portfolio. Most of it was either general enough that it wasn't necessary to read this particular book in order to hear these details (other books or his wiki might cover same basics), or vague enough in its language that I couldn't absolutely decipher the intended meaning (in what way did Brett have a trademark interest in "a strong feeling for the picture surface," and how do the powerlines connect to that surface?), but it's an easy read and I enjoyed what insights I could glean from it. I was glad to see that most of the last page is devoted to making sense of the portfolio's somewhat inscrutable third photo, which seems at first to be a random and unremarkable image of some typical SF features, done in a style that seems far more snapshot-reminiscent than would be expected from someone who demonstrated such a keen sense of subject and precise composition from the very beginning and throughout his career. I came away feeling like I understood the inclusion of that image better, if perhaps still not entirely convinced of its significance.
Overall, if you love Brett, this is a very cool look at what he was creating around 1939. If you love Brett's typical work, you might find what's in here unrecognizable in its lack of abstraction or tight focus. If you're looking for vintage views of San Francisco, there's some interesting stuff here, but likely nothing very different or surprising, even if the quality of the photos is certainly better than most from that era. I suppose it could be said that the photos collected here don't look very Brett, but they do look very Weston in that while the shots themselves tend to look hardly distinguishable from what Edward and Ansel and others did in SF, the sheer quality attained in them looks decades ahead of its time in the same way that some of Edward's work from the 20s seems to exceed what we think of as possible in its era. Quality-wise, if you told me these were shot by a top large format photographer in 1989 I'd have no cause to doubt it, but it's rather amazing that these were shot in 1939.
The portfolio concludes with a brief essay giving a basic overview of who Brett was and what's in the portfolio. Most of it was either general enough that it wasn't necessary to read this particular book in order to hear these details (other books or his wiki might cover same basics), or vague enough in its language that I couldn't absolutely decipher the intended meaning (in what way did Brett have a trademark interest in "a strong feeling for the picture surface," and how do the powerlines connect to that surface?), but it's an easy read and I enjoyed what insights I could glean from it. I was glad to see that most of the last page is devoted to making sense of the portfolio's somewhat inscrutable third photo, which seems at first to be a random and unremarkable image of some typical SF features, done in a style that seems far more snapshot-reminiscent than would be expected from someone who demonstrated such a keen sense of subject and precise composition from the very beginning and throughout his career. I came away feeling like I understood the inclusion of that image better, if perhaps still not entirely convinced of its significance.
Overall, if you love Brett, this is a very cool look at what he was creating around 1939. If you love Brett's typical work, you might find what's in here unrecognizable in its lack of abstraction or tight focus. If you're looking for vintage views of San Francisco, there's some interesting stuff here, but likely nothing very different or surprising, even if the quality of the photos is certainly better than most from that era. I suppose it could be said that the photos collected here don't look very Brett, but they do look very Weston in that while the shots themselves tend to look hardly distinguishable from what Edward and Ansel and others did in SF, the sheer quality attained in them looks decades ahead of its time in the same way that some of Edward's work from the 20s seems to exceed what we think of as possible in its era. Quality-wise, if you told me these were shot by a top large format photographer in 1989 I'd have no cause to doubt it, but it's rather amazing that these were shot in 1939.
November 16, 2008
Found this in the Amwell Book Company. Amazing photos. Had been looking at the Lodima Press books online, the print quality really is amazingly good.
July 24, 2010
Wonderful black and white photographs of San Francisco! The afterward is informative about Weston's development as a photographer.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews