Abelardo Morell (Monographs) [Hardcover]

Abelardo Morell (Author), Richard B. Woodward (Introduction)

Book Description

Series: Monographs | Publication Date: September 1, 2005

In 1986, Abelardo Morell began a family and his fascination with his son engaged a new interest in this domestic environment as a subject. Morell began exploring the world from a child's perspective - approaching mundane household objects in a new way that challenges the viewer's perception of reality and how we see. Morell transforms everyday objects through the use of distorting angles and extreme close-ups, surprising perspectives that confuse and jar with our expectations: viewed from below a stack of toy blocks tower over the viewer, a close-up of liquid pouring from a jar seems ominous and dramatic rather than an everyday occurrence. Similarly, Morell continued to transform the familiar into the surprising in his series of photographs of books, maps, American money and, more recently, a series that illustrates a new edition of Lewis Carroll's "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland". This preoccupation with reality and illusion is most clearly realised in Morell's series of camera obscura images. He takes an ordinary room and tapes black plastic over the windows, leaving only a 3/8" hole for the light. After setting up a large-format camera in the room and pointing it at the opposite wall, Morell leaves - a single exposure takes 8 hours. In the resulting images a scene of Brookline floats upside-down along the walls of his son's bedroom; abroad landmarks like the Uffizi and the Eiffel Tower are projected across hotel rooms. In this, Morell's best known and most ambitious series, the distinction between the outside and the domestic world is merged and Morell's preoccupation with the mechanics of human vision and the principles of photography is manifest. Morell continues to teach, publish and exhibit his works. His photographs are included in numerous public collections and individual shows include the major travelling exhibition 'Abelardo Morell and the Camera Eye' (2002).

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Born in Havana, Abelardo Morell emigrated to the United States in 1962 where he took his first photography course after winning a scholarship to Bowdoin College, a small liberal arts college in Maine. There, Morell experimented with a variety of experimental techniques to create surreal effects that reflected his feelings of alienation as a Cuban living abroad. He continued on to the graduate programme at Yale University, where he worked within Robert Frank and Garry Winogrand's tradition of black-and-white street photography. In 1983, he began teaching at the Massachusetts College of Art in Boston, where he remains a professor today.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 140 pages
• Publisher: Phaidon Press; First edition (September 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0714845728
• ISBN-13: 978-0714845722
• Product Dimensions: 11.6 x 11.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #349,424 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful Book, Inspiring Pictures, June 13, 2008

By 

Gordon Ray (Atlanta GA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Abelardo Morell (Monographs) (Hardcover)

This is a great look at Abelardo Morell's career, full of inspiring pictures of simple ideas that have been executed flawlessly. A must for the serious black and white photographer.

1 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars beautiful pictures, August 24, 2006

By 

Victoria Eichler "Art addict" (Washington DC) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Abelardo Morell (Monographs) (Hardcover)

The book is beautiful. If you like black and white photography I highly recommend it.

0 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Shame on Amazon, January 21, 2011

By 

Fringe1221 (New York) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Abelardo Morell (Monographs) (Hardcover)

Amazon sent me the same exact book I had returned. PG 71 has black ink marks everywhere. They claim that they never do this and that returns go to a different dept. What a bunch of bunk. I have placed over 75 orders with Amazon in the last year and this is how they treat their customers.