This collection of Ralph Gibson's photography offers the fruit of four decades of image making. Loyal to his Leica, Gibson ranges between genres and creates new categories of vision. He gets closer to them and meditates on them in a way that only the silence of the image can attempt.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
37 of 40 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Ralph Gibson's Best Book!,
By Dory Ellen Fish (Philadelphia, PA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Deus Ex Machina (Paperback)
'Deus ex Machina' is a powerful manifestation of Gibson's vision over the last 40 years. The book contains images that have been reproduced before, as well as many new images. However,although many images are well known, they can be seen in a fresh way because of the pairing and sequencing that Gibson is known for. The way that the book provides a context for these images makes "Deus ex Machina" much more than a collection of interesting pictures. This book also provides an opportunity to see Gibson's new color work, which is surprisingly strong for a "black- and- white photographer". It is inspiring to Ralph Gibson's work evolve over the years; he has a vision that is alive, and he is not just following a formula and pumping out more images, like many of the artisits that I see who have achieved some success and recognition. My only criticism is the format of the book; there are so many pages for such a small book, an it is somewhat unweildy, and maybe fragile since it is a paperback. On the other hand, since it is inexpensive, it is an opportunity for a wider audience to see Gibson's work. I recommend this book!
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Photographer Very Good; Taschen Publishing So-So,
By carol irvin "carol irvin" (United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER) (VINE VOICE) (REAL NAME)
This review is from: Deus Ex Machina (Paperback)
I've bought other art-photo books by this publisher, Taschen, and this may be my last one. I do not like the way they are all jammed together into a chunk of a mid-size paperback book. For one, you cannot open this book to a page and study it without using your hands to grip the book to keep it open to that page. I bought this book chiefly to study the nudes. They are very good but I can't say this work absolutely knocks me out the way other books I've reviewed here have done. After reading the other reviews of this book here at Amazon, I think one of the problems is that the book is intended more for an audience of art photographers than for artists working in other media. If you are an art photographer, this may be a 5 star book for you, although I think you still may dislike the publishing format of it. This is the first time I've noticed that Amazon has run other pictures, which are inside the book, which you can click to see. This addresses the biggest problem with buying visual books outside of a real world book store. At long last, we do not have to rely solely on the cover image in buying the visual book online. Now we can see inside pages as well.
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A great collection by a great artist,
This review is from: Deus Ex Machina (Paperback)
I found out about this book, and about Gibson, in the June/July issue of Camera Arts Magazine, and I have been profoundly influenced by Gibson's work in my own photography ever since. In the article I learned that Gibson uses his musical knowledge, especially of rhythm, in creating photos that technically could be called 'street photography', but are so carefully composed in the moment that almost all of the randomness that one commonly associates with that genre has been removed. Rather, the pictures transcend the random moment by extracting from that moment a more universal subject, of which the literal photographic subject is merely a temporary vessel or embodiment. Gibson's work is extremely empowering to any 35mm user who has experienced large format snobbery and grain-phobia. Gibson embraces 35mm, with all its "limitations," and the results are striking. The photos are arranged on facing pages in order to suggest associations to the reader (conscious or unconscious) that begin to tell a story. The pictures are also punctuated by glimpses of Gibson's philosophy, in his own words, that leave you full of wonder, and wanting more. His sparseness of words leaves the reader with only one option: go back to the pictures again and again, and try to understand what words can only hint at.
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