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Gossage, John (Photographer); Jurovics, Toby & Badger, Gerry (Contributors) : The Pond: A Book Of 52 Photographs By John Gossage

Aperture Foundation, New York City, NY, 2010

ISBN 1597111325

First Edition Thus / First Printing. As New in As New Dust Jacket. 50 pages. New Facsimile Edition of the photographer's classic. One of the most important photography books of our time. The 2010 Hardcover Reissued Edition. Precedes and should not be confused with all other subsequent editions. Published in a small and limited first print run as a hardcover original only that sold out shortly after publication. The Reissued Edition is now scarce. A brilliant production by John Gossage and Gabriele F. Gotz: Oversize-volume format. Dark-blue cloth boards with photographic reproduction pasted in front and red titles embossed on spine, as issued. Photographs by John Gossage. Essays by Toby Jurovics and Gerry Badger. The latter appear in this edition only for the very first time. Printed on pristine-white, thick coated stock paper to the highest standards. In pictorial DJ with huge flaps and wraparound titles, as issued. Re-presents, after a long absence of twenty-five years, in a handsome Reissued Edition, John Gossage's "The Pond". The ambitious attempt to translate Henry David Thoreau's "Walden". That is, what Gossage thinks Thoreau really meant to say (if he took photographs instead) and then, it goes off on its own. First published in 1985, it remains one of the prolific Gossage's definitive works. "Consisting of photographs taken around and away from a pond situated in an unkempt wooded area at the edge of a city, the volume presents a considered foil to Henry Thoreau's stay at Walden. The photographs do not aspire to the 'beauty' of classical landscapes in the tradition of Ansel Adams. Instead, they reveal a subtle vision of reality on the border between Man and Nature" (Publisher's blurb). "Adams, Shore, Baltz, all the New Topographics photographers made great books. But none are better than 'The Pond' " (Gerry Badger). "Believable because it includes evidence of man's darkness of spirit, memorable because of the intense fondness Gossage shows for the remains of the natural world" (Robert Adams). Perhaps The Last Word belongs to the great photographer of Alaska of our time: "I still have no idea what the book is about, and writing about it seems pointless, unlike the act of holding the book in your hands and turning the pages, which is pure pleasure. The individual photographs sometimes seem unsettling, but there are other emotions released - stillness and joy. I really don't know why this is such a great book, just that it is" (Dennis Witmer). An absolute "must-have" title for John Gossage collectors. This copy is very prominently, neatly, and beautifully signed in black ink-pen by John Gossage. It is signed directly on the page itself, not on a tipped-in page. This title is a great art photography book. This is one of few such signed copies of the 2010 Reissued Hardcover Edition/First Printing still available online and is in especially fine condition: Clean, crisp, and bright, a pristine beauty. Please note: Copies of the 1985 First Edition available online command thousands of dollars. This is surely an accessible and lovely alternative. A rare signed copy thus. 52 plates. "The Pond" was selected as one of the greatest photography books in "The Photobook". One of the most brilliant photographers of our time. A fine collectible copy. (SEE ALSO OTHER JOHN GOSSAGE TITLES IN OUR CATALOG). ISBN 1597111325.

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