John^Gregory Lahr, Andre^Nichols, Mike^Tharp, Twyla^Uchida, MitsukoRezensionen

Second only to the book which collects Avedon's fashion photography portfolio, this book is chalk full of some of the best of Avedon's work. Spanning the creative arts genres to encompass everything from actors to poets, Avedon has captured the people who publicly defined the second half of the 20th-century. Many of the photos are easily recognizable - Avedon was extremely prolific and his photos are everywhere - but many of his lesser know photos are also included. Marilyn Monroe post-performance - an image which captures the exhaustion and sadness behind her public mask - is the best example of this, as it captures the person behind the Hollywood lens, and is therefore not an image that Hollywood wanted released as it did those of the sexed-up persona.

Superlatives aside, this is a reference tome with beautiful moments of inspiration. Select your favorite performer of the 20th century and at least one image will be included or referenced or suggested in this lusciously-produced (formatted, printed) and edited volume of images of those magic artists we call performers, yes, in PERFORMANCE. there are words (listed simply as 'words') by john lahr and mike nichols and andre gregory and mitsuku utchida and twyla tharp. these are personal and professional and astute .. but you will find yourself moving on quickly and focusing on the images. treating these precious pages as the treasures they are .. gazing adoringly, flipping back and forth repeatedly. and now, i shall feast my eyes yet again on familiar and some never before published images of our miss garland.