Henry Miller called Brassai "the eye of Paris" and indeed he was in all of his wonderful, singular, black and white photographs of the City of Light. Brassai was, no doubt about it, one of the handful of great photographers who worked from 1900 til midpoint in the last century. He tells us that in Paris, he had "an unquenchable thirst for knowledge." Although he did many portraits of the famous like fellow photographer, Andre Kertesz, and exiled president of Hungary, Mihaly Karolyi, and Picasso and the composer, Edgard Varese (reproductions of which are included in this beautifully produced book) and the instantly recognizable monuments and even the graffiti of the city, he was even more well known for his images of the seamier side of Paris-- (known in the USA as "Paris Secrets") the night life which not only included actors and dancers, but also prostitutes and transvestites. (he actually became so well-known and liked in the bordellos, that he was allowed "free-reign" to photograph the women and their clients!)

A Hungarian by birth, he obviously loved all aspects of Paris. This is not only obvious in his art, but also in his writing. From 1920 til 1940, Brassai (born Gyula Halasz in 1899) kept up an almost religiously regular correspondence with his parents. These letters, some like diary entries, show his great affection for his family and home, but also for this extraordinary city in which he chose to live and work.

If you are at all interested in how a great artist finds inspiration and how he continues to grow from day to day, from triumph to triumph and indeed from struggle and disappointment to more struggle and even more disappoinment, these letters will thrill you. I have always been fascinated by Brassai (I own one of his images) and have never been able to find a satisfying biography that tells anything of his early life and history. Well, here is that book and it is in his own words and illustrated with several of his fine photographs. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

This lovely book gives us the portrait of an artist as a VERY unusual young man: the great photographer Brassai. Brassai proves himself a wonderful writer as well as photographer. His love of Paris in the 1920s and 1930s is everywhere evident--the glamour, the grime, the artistic urgency of the place, the crazy characters who called it home. Letters to My Parents is a must-read to anyone interested in this idiosyncratic artist and establishment of photography as an art form in the early twentieth century.

Recently, I visited the Art Institute of Chicago to catch a two-room show by Robert Frank, which feautures classic images from his seminal work "The Americans," along with more recent fare from the 1970s through the 1990s. Also on the bill was the main showing -- a retrospective of prints by the recently deceased Louis Faurer, of whom I had only passing knowledge -- which was sponsored by Robert Frank's foundation named in honour of his daughter, Andrea. Fortunately for me, I bit the hook baited with the Frank photographs (which were beautiful to see in person for the first time) and finally got acquainted with Faurer's work.

Lou Faurer was a fashion photographer from the late 1940s through the early 1970s for such magazines as Harper's Bazaar and Vogue, but his passion was photographing Times Square in Manhattan at night. What immediately struck me about his photographs was how Faurer took the blaring and glaring crossroads in the city that never sleeps, and extracted from them utter solitude and psychic desolation. An aging woman shields herself with an umbrella from the blinding fury of incandescent lights flickering, despite the dry pavements; A family up from the farmland poses for a portrait which places their quiet dignity in the foreground against the marquees of movie theatres; a man stands along the kerb both awestruck and intimidated, in a shot which must have later been the genesis of Robert deNiro's defining role of Travis Bickle, the loner cabbie who pads up and down Broadway in total anonymity.

There is plenty of fare available to the keen eye of the viewer who wants something off the beaten path, that's yet set on one of the most beaten paths in the world's travelogues.

Faurer was the son of Russian Jewish immigrants and grew up in Philadelphia. It was here that he began his explorations as an amateur street photographer. During World War II, he took a photographic course from the Army, and was a civilian photographer for the War Department. After the Allied victory ended the war, Faurer began working in the fashion industry. It was around this time that his friendship with newly arrived Swiss-Jewish emigre Robert Frank began, as both worked as fashion photogs, while Faurer spent much of his time sweating away in Frank's darkroom. In the 1950s, their career paths diverged, with Frank following in the steps of Walker Evans as a straight documentarian, leaving Faurer to the fashion set. Yet, the two remained friends, despite Faurer's angry demeanour. One friend described friendship with Faurer as "high maintenance."

Faurer was exacting in capturing the exact tonal range and precise contrast needed to convey the feel of New York at night. Most of his early work is printed by himself, and while technically beautiful, it is refreshing to see that Faurer was not a perfectionist -- on many of his prints he left scratches, eyelash hairs and dust spots from negatives unretouched, whereas most other exhibiting photographers would have sweated bullets in spot-toning them out of existence. Strangely, it works, giving the viewer the "you are there" feeling of being present at the creation.

Also introduced for the first time are many of Faurer's Kodachrome reversal transparencies from the same time period (taken with his Leica rangefinder, very patiently handheld at night to render acceptably sharp images at 40 ASA). The resultant C-type prints made from internegatives are very faithful to Kodachrome's trademark warm tonality, and give us an alternative take on 1940s/50s Times Square.

Despite his photography being selected by Edward Steichen for the "Family of Man" compendium, Faurer remained on the fringes of the gallery scene, never fully embraced by the art photography movement until the 1970s. In his own lifetime, Faurer exhibited mostly in group exhibitions, but had only about five solo shows. This current retrospective is a long overdue gathering of most of Faurer's important works, which was first held at the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, moved to San Diego, and is fittingly due at the Philadelphia Museum of Art in June 2003.

As for the printing of the book itself, it is first rate, and both the tones and the colours are extremely true to the originals. Tucker's introductory essay is an excellent biographical sketch of Faurer the man, and Lisa Hostetler categorises Faurer within the realm of "Film Noir" photographers of his time, though she doesn't give enough background on the New York tabloid crime photographers such as Weegee and Osmund Leviness who defined what would later become the genre.

Nonetheless, this book (and the exhibition from which it was drawn) finally establishes Faurer among the top tier of art photographers where he rightly belongs.

Famed photographer Louis Faurer, who died last year at the age of 84, is remembered for his inimitable fashion photos and arresting street scenes. With camera at the ready he traversed New York City streets, searching for the moments he wished to preserve.

The child of a blue-collar Philadelphia neighborhood, Faurer taught himself photography. As a young man he went to New York City, where he became friends with and influenced Robert Frank. For almost two decades he devoted himself to work for top fashion mags, such as Vogue and Harper's Bazaar. Hollywood beckoned, and he served for a time as set photographer.

Faurer's skill as a portrait artist is manifestly apparent in his study of Walter Winchell, and Andy Warhol star Viva. Nonetheless, the New York street scenes are his most lasting legacy.

An award-winning writer and lecturer, Anne Wilkes Tucker has assembled a memorable keepsake volume for those who appreciate the art of photography.

- Gail Cooke

This is a must have for any DIY miniaturists library. Even if you don't plan to reproduce the exact room settings, you can learn techniques and principles which can be used in any project. Her attention to detail is simply phenomenal. She even cautions you about the thickness of your pencil lead when drawing your plans, lest your components not fit together perfectly. And, should you never get around to actually "building" anything, it is still a great companion on a rainy day and a beautiful book for your collection.

This is one of the finest photography books I've seen recently. Filled with page after page of gorgeous photographs spanning a range of over one hundred years, from rare vintage images to fascinating contemporary work, this volume tells the story of a vastly understudied area of artistic work. Everything about this volume--its design, its production, its content--does beautiful justice to the subject matter. Finally--a worthy book on Japanese photography!!!

I found this book not only to be filled with the wonderfull works of Claude Monete but it also has a great insight to his life and the imprssion he left on modern art today. This book also contains full fold-out pictures of some of the artists best works. For anyone who has ever enjoyed any of Monets work you will love this book.

This book is a perfect addition to any art library. Having seen "Monet in the 20th Century" in Boston at the Museum of Fine Arts, I was well prepared for the exhibit by having read the book first. I found the exhibit to be an extraordinary example of Monet's achievment in his later years. This book focuses on the works of Monet starting at the start of this century right up to his death in 1928. All through this period of Monet's life and including the representation of the body of work produced within those years, this book never skips a beat. Although not an all-encompassing look at his complete works of that period, this book offers the best look out there of his paintings as well as his development throughout the last quarter-century of his life. I found it to be in keeping with what is already known about Monet's later years, but certainly not devoid of interesting insights. The quality of the book, it's contents, including all of the color plates reproduced within is very good. I would not have an art library without Monet representation, and this is the ideal book for an addition or a starter.

For lovers of great photography, one of the real gaps for a long time has been a monograph on this master of Euorpean street photography, whose images of Paris in the 30's in particular are among the greatest of their kind. Since the unfortuante deletion of the magnificent mid-80's reissue of PARIS BY NIGHT there has literally been nothing available except an over-priced paperback from Germany (I beleive) that has made its way to US museum bookshops and the like. What great news it was that Abrams, who are one of the best houses for this sort of thing, was publishing a major catalogue to accompany the travelling exhibit now at the National Gallery in Washington. The book was delayed several times earlier this year (no doubt to the chagrin of the museums the exhibit has already passed through) and has finally arrived in time for Christmas.

It is sad indeed to report that the book is a total disappointment- at least so far as the images themselves are concerned:

One: The source material and printing of the picutres are truly second-rate - without richness, luster, or dimension. Many look like photocopies from magazines or other books. They are oddly glossy but flat. Compare these to the incredible matte reproductions in PARIS BY NIGHT and the contrast between what can be done with with what is here is nearly heartbreaking.

Second: What is with the recent tendency to print photographs in an oversized, right-to-the-edges format with no sense of border or space to let the composition breathe and no sense of frame lines. The bleed-over simply kills the impact of many of these photogrpahs. It's a ruinous way to present great imagery. (It afflicts Abrams' new Bill Brandt book as well but to a lesser extent because the printing of that book is so much better.)

Third: There is very little that is new here. For such a major undertaking it comes across as a routine collection of well-known images, a greatest hits, that ends up delivering little emotional punch or insight into this great artist. Compare this to Abrams' own exhaustive works like Walker Evans: The Hungry Eye and you'll see what I mean.

With so many great photographers receiving deluxe treatment in the past few years from Abrams' W. Eugene Smith book last year to Bulfinch's Lartigue mongraph, it is a real shame that someone as seminal but poorly represented in print as Brassai should receive such a well-intentioned but unsatisfactory tribute. PLEASE BRING BACK PARIS BY NIGHT!

I am surprised that this book has gotten such mixed reviews here -- it is the definitive book on the subject. The essays are full of new information and elegantly presented. The design of the book, bleeds and all, remind me of the particular way Brassai made his books (which is why we care about Brassai today). The reproductions look like the original prints! The book is smart and real.

I saw this exhibition at the National Gallery of Art and bought the book. The exhibition blew me away and so did the book! It is the best exhibition book on photography I have seen. The print quality of the photographs is superb and the text is excellent. This book is a lesson in photography, political science, and sociology.

An artist's earier work always sheds light on furture endevours. Keith Carter has photograpghed his east Texas homeland with respect and love. The land is rich and full of stories. Who are these people? Where is this place? What is going on here? Why did he make this picture? These are the questions you ask when you move through the Carter landscape. Keith has turned his eye towards simple, beautiful things and people. His compostions are full of air and earth. You can revisit this work over and over, pulling out more thread with each turn. If you like Keith Carter, you should get this book. If you don't know anything about him, get this book because it's an earlier book and his eyes change over time. This is the dense taproot. From here all else blooms.

This is an early book and well seen.You should buy this book because Keith Carter is good for the soul.

A few rare Frank images are reproduced, but this book is mainly a collection of documents and writings by or about Frank. This is the only source for much of this material: letters from a young Robert Frank to his parents about New York, for example; a facsimile of Frank's Guggenheim application; a police report made during Frank's trip across America; writing by Kerouac about a trip made with Frank to Florida. I recommend this book to any person interested in Robert Frank and already familiar with his work. Nevertheless, the few images here reproduced stand out like flowers.

The first impression this book gives is that it is very political. The artists' attempts to portray women in alternative roles is clear. Many of the pieces utilize shock value to bring to light roles women are traditionally forced into, and some pictures are quite graphic. Although it is not the case for all the photography, much of it repeats the feminist philosophies already brought forth over the recent decades and presents nothing new. This begs the question whether or not these images are truly art.