In forty-five years as one of America's liveliest photographers for Life, Time, and other assignments, Art Shay has established a world-wide reputation for capturing the oddities of the moment. His photographs of Khrushchev, Liberace, Harry Truman, Judy Garland, Frank Sinatra, Nelson Algren, George Solti, and hundreds of other luminaries are not the usual portraits; they are people off-guard, memorable for their humanity rather than their celebrity. But, unlike other great photographers of his time, Art Shay has a way with words. His prose is sharp, vivid, and evocative, the product of a well-nurtured mind and a cultivated intellect. In Album for an Age he puts both his words and his pictures to work, and the result is a delightful, entertaining, thoughtful, and sometimes wacky sightseeing tour of many of the major personalities and events of the last fifty years. "Daumier," Mr. Shay writes, "taught me to aim my predatory camera at the contumely, at snobbery, pretensions, cruelty, and the machinery of petty power." Some of it, though, he can't help liking; all of it he writes about with wit and insight. Here is a marvelously unconventional book by an unconventional photographer—not a picture book but a book with pictures.
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Editorial Reviews
Review
The best photojournalist I know. (Hugh Hefner )
His pictures are universal...they tell of greed and lust and ambition and snowy days...they tell us about life. (Rich Cahan )
One of our truest photographers...captures the beauty, humor, and pathos of America. (Studs Terkel )
My initial admiration for his talent and courage have never dimmed. How could they? Just look at the pictures. (Wills, Garry )
Art Shay's vivid and unique portrayals are a treasure. (Scott Turow )
Hard-hitting portraits of our time...compassionate and full of humor. (New York Times )
His pictures are universal...they tell of greed and lust and ambition and snowy days...they tell us about life. (Rich Cahan )
One of our truest photographers...captures the beauty, humor, and pathos of America. (Studs Terkel )
My initial admiration for his talent and courage have never dimmed. How could they? Just look at the pictures. (Wills, Garry )
Art Shay's vivid and unique portrayals are a treasure. (Scott Turow )
Hard-hitting portraits of our time...compassionate and full of humor. (New York Times )
From the Inside Flap
In forty-five years as one of America’s liveliest and most accomplished photographers—for Life, Time, Fortune, Sports Illustrated, and other assignments—Art Shay has established a world-wide reputation for capturing the odd moment. His photographs of Khrushchev, Liberace, Harry Truman, Judy Garland, Marlon Brando, Nelson Algren, Liz Taylor, George Solti, and hundreds of other luminaries are not the usual portraits. They are people off-guard, memorable for their humanity rather than their celebrity.
But there is more to Art Shay than a camera. Unlike other great photographers of his time, Mr. Shay has a way with words. His prose is sharp, vivid, and evocative, the product of a well-nurtured mind and a cultivated intellect. His observations are pointed and his interests wide-ranging. He’s adept at bringing great reputations down to size, and he never forgets his own origins.
In Album for an Age, Mr. Shay puts both his words and his pictures to work. The result is a delightful, entertaining, thoughtful, and sometimes wacky sightseeing tour of many of the major personalities and events of the last fifty years. “Daumier,” he writes, “taught me to aim my predatory camera at the contumely, snobbery, pretensions, cruelty, and machinery of petty power.” Some of it, though, he can’t help liking; all of it he writes about with wit and insight. Here is a marvelously unconventional book by an unconventional photographer—not a picture book but a book with pictures.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Joys and sorrows,
By Janet David (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Album for an Age: Unconventional Words and Pictures from the Twentith Century (Hardcover)
We expect photographers to reveal the world of the 'other'. Art Shay has been doing this for 50 years. "Album for an Age' depicts the lives and deaths of the famous and the infamous, as well as the ugly and the beautiful. We see them in social and historical contexts, and in private and public settings. There are portraits that Hollywood celebrities, artists and poets have posed for, and photos of underworld characters taken in secret by cameras hidden in his or his wife's clothing. There is humor in timely juxtapositions of people and places. One of my favorites is a close-up of a disheveled, grinning, toothless man, living in an Indiana poorhouse, holding aloft a bottle of Coca-Cola in a bizarre evocation of a slick advertisement. The unique contribution of this book, however, is when Art Shay turns his lens on himself, his family , and his feelings. The camera, no longer hidden, becomes a personal journal and a probe. He contrasts photos taken as an observer of an early heart by-pass procedure, with those taken 30 years later of himself, being prepped to receive a pig's aortic valve to replace his own, his only "non-Kosher" part. Most poignant are Art Shay's reminiscences about his oldest son, Harmon, named for his father, Herman, who was murdered at the age of 20. The man who has spent his life photographing celebrities and world leaders, as well as murderers and their victims is now the subject. This book, with its cover photo of a very young Marlon Brando playing with his dog, should appeal to a wide variety of people.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Album for an Age,
By
This review is from: Album for an Age: Unconventional Words and Pictures from the Twentith Century (Hardcover)
I like this book because you can open it anywhere for anecotes about the famous people the author took pictures of for Life Magazine and business magazines. It's funny, and in parts about his own life, is quite touching. I gave a copy to a friend in the hospital. He said he liked looking at the pictures because the captions told little stories and his visitors had something to read while he dosed. I gave it to another friend who keeps it on her coffee table, as she adores dogs. The picture on the cover makes her feel good. Its a wonderful, beautifully written book to give as gifts to friends and relatives. Its nuttier than fruit cake, sweeter than chocolate, and it last longer.
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