Deep into Photo Books

Greetings, folks,

First, thank you for reading. The more time I spend on Substack, the less time I have for reading, writing, practicing aikido (which I finally signed up for last year), meditating, and just chilling. I love most of the posts I read on Substack, naturally (otherwise I wouldn’t be reading them), but God, couldn’t you make the day last at least 30 hours? Anyway, thank you for taking the time. Today I’ll keep it short (I hope). I’m fully immersed in three photobooks – two great, one interesting.

One was recommended by

Susanne Helmert

(The Daybooks of Edward Weston), and the other by

Anthony Morganti

(Fred Herzog: Modern Color). The third, I recommended to myself: Amsterdam Photos by Robby Muller.

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Okay, The Daybooks of Edward Weston (two in one – Mexico and California) offer a profound and intimate glimpse into the mind of one of the 20th century's most influential photographers.

It’s a compilation of his journals and reflections, providing readers with a unique opportunity to understand the artistic process, creative struggles, and philosophical musings of this iconic photographer. The Daybooks span several decades, covering Weston's prolific career from the 1920s to the 1940s. The entries not only document his artistic development but also shed light on the cultural and historical context of the time. One of the strengths of the Daybooks is Weston's ability not only to articulate the intricate relationship between his life experiences and his art, but also to offer candid reflections on personal challenges, relationships, and his constant quest for artistic perfection, adding a human touch to the narrative.

Onto Fred Herzog. Fred Herzog's Modern Color stands as a visual testament to the transformation of urban landscapes in the mid-20th century. Born in Germany in 1930, Herzog later moved to Vancouver, Canada, where he became a prolific street photographer. Unlike his contemporaries who predominantly worked in black and white, Herzog embraced color photography, a choice that set him apart and contributed significantly to his unique visual narrative.

Modern Color is amazing. Vancouver's streets, during the 1950s and 1960s, mostly. The photos are not merely snapshots; they are windows into a bygone era, frozen moments in time. The reds, blues, and yellows in Herzog's palette breathe life into scenes that might otherwise go unnoticed. His compositions are marked by a careful balance of light and shadow.

Finally, Amsterdam Photos.

I must say that Robby Muller is my favorite cinematographer (and I’m very much aware of and much admire the giants like Vilmos Zsigmond, Nestor Almendros, Sven Nykvist, Vittorio Storaro, Gordon Willis, and Michael Chapman).

Still, Müller rocks my world: Paris, Texas, Breaking the Waves, Dead Man, Honeysuckle Rose, The American Friend, Mystery Train, and many others. Müller had a remarkable ability to work with natural light. He often opted for available light sources – sunlight through a window or the glow of street lamps. This approach gave his films a distinctive and organic look, emphasizing realism and a connection to the environment.

Amsterdam Photos has 63 photos of Amsterdam taken by Müller. These photos were published every Monday in Het Parool in 2019 and 2020, chosen and provided with an accompanying text by Andrea Müller-Schirmer. Her short associative texts provide insight into Robby Müller's working method, his dealings with light and tell about Amsterdam. It is also an ode to analogue photography. With text in English and Dutch by Andrea Müller-Schirmer and Bianca Stigter.

I asked my college library to order the book. It took three weeks for it to arrive from Germany. It’s huge and thin and looks like a homemade notebook. There’s something very intimate about its format. Regrettably, the photos don't leave a strong impression on me. I've been trying to pinpoint what exactly is lacking and… I believe it's the absence of the extraordinary in the ordinary that saturates every frame of Müller's films. The photos appear rather... ordinary. However, I'll continue to study them, hoping to discover something I might have missed initially. I would appreciate hearing from those of you familiar with the book.

If you’re curious about Muller’s film work, I strongly recommend watching the documentary about him titled "Living the Light," currently available for free on Tubi. I'm not certain if those of you who are overseas have access to the site; but I hope you do.
https://tubitv.com/movies/100001590/living-the-light-robby-m-ller

And here’s a nice tribute to Müller on YouTube (7 min, 40 sec.):

That’s it for now. Thanks again.

‘Til next time,

ak