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Helmer-Petersen, Keld (Photographer); Badger, Gerry; Parr, Martin & Thrane, Finn (Contributors) : Keld Helmer-petersen: Photographs 1941-1995

Christian Ejlers Publishers, Copenhagen, Denmark, 2007

ISBN 8772412828

First Edition / First Printing. As New in As New Dust Jacket. 290 pages. Retrospective collection of photographs. Limited Clamshell Box Edition of 50 numbered and signed copies. Should not be confused with the regular trade edition, which was published simultaneously with it. The Limited Edition is now rare. A brilliant production by Keld Helmer-Petersen, Christian Eljers, and Jonathan Stephenson: Oversize-volume format. The set weighs 10 pounds. Pale gray hard boards with black titles printed on cover and spine, as issued. Photographs by Keld Helmer-Petersen. Essays by Gerry Badger and Finn Thrane. Interview conducted by Martin Parr. Original color print laid-in. Handmade matching cloth clamshell box. Printed on pristine-white, thick coated stock paper in Copenhagen, Denmark to the highest standards. In pictorial DJ with titles on the cover and spine, as issued. Presents, in its Limited Edition format, Keld Helmer-Petersen's "Photographs 1941-1995". His life's work. Pioneering in his time, they remain vital and crucial today. "In the history of photography, color became an artistically viable medium around the early 1970's, with the emergence of such photographers as Stephen Shore and William Eggleston. However, in 1948, the Danish photographer Keld Helmer-Petersen published a book of color photographs that prefigured their work by two decades. His aim was to make the kinds of pictures that could only work in color and not in black-and-white. This is not as easy as it sounds for it requires both paying attention to the issue of color and preventing it from becoming the dominant concern" (Gerry Badger). Since color has been the dominant concern of painters throughout history (Matisse and Warhol come to mind among modern artists), the moralistic concern, such as Badger's, that it could overwhelm an image is precisely what has prevented it from becoming acceptable in photography. It is also the reason Keld Helmer-Petersen is a truly remarkable figure. The images in this book are, quite simply, beautiful: An elegance, rigor, and austerity underlie his work. We label these qualities as "Scandinavian" or "Nordic", which is not false, but is facile. Although his work has been championed by Martin Parr, our most committed colorist, Keld Helmer-Petersen remains an enigmatic figure. He spent some time in the United States, teaching at Chicago's Institute of Design, the foremost exponent of Bauhaus aesthetics in America. As such, he is identified with Aaron Siskind, Harry Callahan, and Yasuhiro Ishimoto. What sets his work apart from his great peers is his innate sense of color. There are photographers (such as Daido Moriyama) and film artists (such as Robert Bresson) whose work in color has the look and feel, the honesty and purity of black-and-white. Keld Helmer-Petersen is the exact opposite: His black-and-whites, for he has done them too, vibrate and make you think of color. Keld Helmer-Petersen died on March 6, 2013. An absolute "must-have" title for Keld Helmer-Petersen collectors. This copy is one of the Limited Clamshell Box Edition, indicated/numbered as such on the Front Limitation Page. It is very prominently and beautifully numbered and signed in black ink-pen on the front free endpaper by Keld Helmer-Petersen. It comes with an archival original color print that is matted and framed in sturdy, pristine-white boards, also very prominently and beautifully titled, dated, and signed in black pen on verso by the photographer: "Keld Helmer-Petersen Madrid 1983/2007". This title is a great art photography book. As far as we know, this is the only copy of the Limited Edition available online and is in especially fine condition: Clean, crisp, and bright, a pristine beauty. A rare signed copy thus. Lavishly illustrated with color plates, 1 original color print. Keld Helmer-Petersen's "122 Color Photographs" was selected as one of the greatest photography books in "The Photobook". The greatest Danish photographer of our time. A fine collectible copy. . ISBN 8772412828.

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