Color Photography

Billing itself as 'an homage to the photographers who elevated the use of color to an art form,' this oversized coffee-table book mainly comprises meticulously printed, full-page reproductions of 150 images created by many of the premier photographers working in the color medium during the 20th century. These illustrations are divided into eight thematic sections, including nudes, landscapes, fashion, and reportage. The works on display Larry Burrows's Vietnam combat scenes, Robert Polidori's architectural studies, Andres Serrano's ironical body fluids, and Richard Misrach's Dali-esque desertscapes, among many others all convey powerful meaning in part through an inventive use of color. The book opens with a manifesto by Zoom magazine writer Bauret, which, by placing the photos he has compiled within an art-historical context, posits itself as an articulation of 'an aesthetic of color.' With so few titles available that survey the use of color in the photographic medium, this is an important purchase for academic and larger public libraries.