Aaron Rose Photographs [Hardcover]

Alfred Corn (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1, 2001

“His images invariably give the viewer the sense that he is seeing something as never before—that he is seeing the world not merely reinterpreted but as profoundly rethought.”

—Paul Goldberger, New York Times
Aaron Rose has created one of the most remarkable bodies of work of any photographer living today, and for most of his career he did this in isolation, in a single-minded quest for visual enlightenment. He was virtually unknown to the photography world until five of his prints were exhibited at the 1997 Whitney Biennial, when he was in his late fifties.
Rose’s images—completely original visions of trees and plants; sun, stars, and clouds; shells; the New York City skyline—are miracles of light and chemistry. A magician who builds his own cameras and mixes complex developing solutions incorporating exotic metals, Rose has spent the last 35 years taking and superbly printing more than 25,000 photographs, most of them from negatives that he printed once or twice and then put away forever. This book offers the first-ever presentation of Rose’s work, which has been quietly collected by major museums over the past few years, as well as a vivid portrait of the man himself, speaking to author Alfred Corn about photography, science, art, and commitment.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

*Starred Review* God's first creation in the Book of Genesis is light, presumably so that the heavens and the earth, already in place, could be seen. Photography is preeminently the art of light, and the photographs of Aaron Rose suggest what God's first glances may have been like. They aren't the sharply focused recordings of life that most photographs seem intended to be. Because Rose makes very long exposures, which are necessary with the lensless pinhole camera he uses, and because he very often aims at light, his pictures generalize and typify instead of defining and particularizing. Their soft-focus appearance, the result of changes in the quality of light over time, helps the final images resemble abstract expressionist paintings, as in those depicting reflections in clear glass objects, or ideal conceptions of their subjects, as in the views of Manhattan buildings obtained from rooftop camera placements. Besides using nonstandard equipment and exposures, Rose prepares his own developing solutions to tint his pictures monochromatically (he never uses color film) and bring them emotionally and spiritually closer to his recollected visual experience. His personalizing procedures are the most but not the only thought-provoking aspects of Rose that Corn discusses in his essay on and elicits in his interview with the photographer. Orphaned in infancy and on his own since age 14, Rose was a professional photographer only briefly, earning his livelihood instead as an antique tool collector-dealer and longtime landlord in New York's SoHo district. For those who love art photography, this is probably the book of the year. Ray Olson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

About the Author

Alfred Corn is a poet, novelist, critic, and adjunct professor of writing at Columbia University in New York. His articles and reviews have appeared in the New York Times Book Review, The Nation, ARTnews, and other major publications. A Fellow of the Academy of American Poets and the recipient of Guggenheim, National Endowment for the Arts, and Fulbright fellowships, Corn's books include Notes from a Child of Paradise, The Various Light, and All Roads at Once, among others.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 144 pages
• Publisher: Harry N. Abrams; 1St Edition edition (July 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0810942240
• ISBN-13: 978-0810942240
• Product Dimensions: 10.1 x 9.9 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,082,376 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars amazing images, a must see, May 23, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Aaron Rose Photographs (Hardcover)

The quality of this book is unsurpassed, The images are unique and beautiful. A must buy for any book collection.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a truly unique photographic vision!!!, May 4, 2001

By 

"brianca70" (Alfred Station, NY USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Aaron Rose Photographs (Hardcover)

I can't say enough about the photographs of Aaron Rose. His photographs are some of the most unique and thoughtful photographs made by a contemporary practitioner. Rose is a self-taught chemist, and his work explifies a true mastery of the fundamentals of photography--light and chemistry. This book does real justice to the intense and unique craftsmanships behind his photographs. It is a must for any serious photographer, and anyone interested in the mechanics and possibilities of photographic processing.

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Astonishing Ethereal Images from a Virtually Unknown Master!, June 1, 2001

By 

Donald Mitchell "Jesus Loves You!" (Thanks for Providing My Reviews over 109,000 Helpful Votes Globally) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Aaron Rose Photographs (Hardcover)

This book deserves more than five stars.

Until 5 prints of Mr. Rose's were included in the Whitney Biennial in 1997, few had seen his work. In fact, his first solo show came in 1998. Despite this, his oeuvre covers more than four decades and some of the best photography I have ever seen. You will find Mr. Rose to be a rewarding photographer who will remind you of some of the best of Edward Weston. His subjects in this outstanding volume of 100 color photographs include shells, New York City, the milky way, reflections, trees, leaves, the sun and clouds, and sky. His images are often created with very long exposures using early 20th century equipment and lenses. More recently, he often uses only pinholes and small aperature cameras. The book's only drawback is that Mr. Rose is fond of a four letter word beginning with "f" that appears several times in his interview.

Mr. Rose's work is mostly about light, and seeks to create a meditative mood. For example, the images of New York City are taken from very high perspectives and are almost abstract. You will be reminded of Cubist rectangles.

His shells are translucent and surreal. The milky way looks like fine bubbles in good champagne. The reflections are almost totally abstract and remind me of drip paintings. The trees and leaf photographs build on fractals as recurring images and provide a sense of optimism. The sun and cloud images are wonderfully romantic and mysterious. His images of the sky are done as circles that provide the impression of peering through the porthole of a space ship, an airplane, or a boat.

In each case, Mr. Rose is giving you a private view of the world that you have never seen before. These new subjective realities will inspire you to have new perceptions and thoughts.

The work evokes an earlier age, and will cause you to slow down and feel more comfortable. The images could easily have been done in the 1920s in terms of the feelings they evoke.

Unlike most books of photography, I do not need to issue any warnings about the images. Except for the language in the interview, this book would be rated "G" if it were a motion picture.

After you finish enjoying these wonderful images, think of ways that you can create similar moods in your daily life. Wouldn't life be wonderful if we always saw it as subtle, gentle, and eternal?

Slow down . . . and see more!