Art that's commercial

An excellent book that covers seven decades of creativity from Robert McGinnis. Look through the book and you'll soon be aware that he's an incredibly versatile artist which is probably why he's been in demand for years, he always delivers what the client wants. His paperback covers from the sixties are collected because they feature hard edge dames known as 'McGinnis women' and he painted hundreds. Plenty are shown in these pages fortunately without the bland title and sub-deck typography, the actual covers are shown much smaller. 

I thought the 'McGinnis women', either nude or clothed very stylised, they all look the same except for the faces and hair styles. His movie posters and consumer magazine illustrations reveal much about his compositions and painting technique. For example, on page ninety-seven there is a superb picture of Walter Matthau (for the movie: 'The odd couple') sitting in chair reading a paper with his legs laid out on a casual table, the chair, Matthau's clothing, a bowl of fruit and some other food on the table are rendered in what looks like a very casual brush-stroke style but is in fact very precise and deliberate, making the painting totally convincing and eye-catching.  A 1968 painting from 'Good Housekeeping' has a bird's eye-view of a white house framed by a lawn and trees, a beautiful composition with added detail of an old fashioned water pump, an electricity box on a wall and rather small, a young girl sitting near a doorway. Away from the girlie art there are plenty of examples of McGinnis creativity throughout the book. 

The back pages have some wonderful examples of his non-commercial work including twenty showing cowboys in the old West. I thought the book was an worthwhile overview of a very versatile artist though in common with other books about well known illustrators there is no mention about how McGinnis works. Nothing about his working environment, types of pencils, brushes, paints etc. Including this would really have made the book complete.

A fresh look at famous photos / book one

Book one (of two, they are sold separately) looks at Lange's FSA photos as they were originally intended: to reveal, primarily through print media, the depth of the American Depression. The two books are different from the photographer's other photobooks because the author has researched the background to her photos, found the locations and what they reveal about thirties poverty.

This book has Lange's work in the agricultural areas of California, Oregon and Washington.  As well as dozens of photos with extended captions there are mini essays explaining geographic and economic aspects of each location which had a bearing on the living conditions of the local population. There is also a chapter on the most famous FSA photo: Migrant mother. Here are the seven photos Lange took  of the destitute mother and children in California during 1936.

These two books are part of a series that take fresh approach to the work of well known FSA photographers. The pictures  (and words) create a fascinating visual history of the Depression years.

A fresh look at famous photos / book two

Book two (of two, they are sold separately) looks at Lange's FSA photos as they were originally intended: to reveal, primarily through print media, the depth of the American Depression. The two books are different from the photographer's other photobooks because the author has researched the background to her photos, found the locations and what they reveal about thirties poverty. 

This book has Lange's work in the agricultural areas of the Mountans West, Southern Plains, Mississippi Delta, the Deep South and eight photos of New York city in June 1936. As well as dozens of photos with extended captions there are mini essays explaining geographic and economic aspects of each location which had a bearing on the living conditions of the local population

These two books are part of a series that take fresh approach to the work of well known FSA photographers. The pictures  (and words) create a fascinating visual history of the Depression. 

Silent and remarkably attractive

Mat Hennek is probably better known as a portrait photographer for the music business but in recent years he's concentrated on the natural landscape. 'Silent cities' is a slight detour from that theme. The eighty photos feature cities around the world but minus the human activity that most other photographers would search out.

What I found quite fascinating about these photos is the way Hennek's eye captures almost abstract shapes out of buildings  and the street architecture of public spaces. A shot from 2013 in Tokyo shows part of a wall made from large blocks in pastel shades of brown and it looks quite stunning, other photos, in long shots. blend the vertical shapes of tall buildings with the horizontals of fencing, railings and streets. There are, in fact, two photos that do show people, one is looking down on a Osaka station with a few passengers but hardly visible, another is a rather small lone cyclist in a Tokyo street.

Another worthwhile feature of the book is that all the  photos are landscape and the same size and position on each page, I thought this helped emphasise the horizontal feel of so many of them. The pictures are printed with a 175 screen on a wonderfully silky matt art paper.

These photos reveal something unexpected in cities but it takes Henning's creativity to reveal it to us even though what he sees has always been there.