A Kind of Rapture [Hardcover]

Robert Bergman (Author), Toni Morrison (Introduction), Meyer Schapiro (Afterword)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 3, 1998

"Occasionally there arises an event or a moment that one knows immediately will forever mark a place in the history of artistic endeavor.  Robert Bergman's portraits represent such a moment.  In all its burnished majesty his gallery refuses us unearned solace ad one by one by one each photograph unveils us, asserting a beauty, a kind of rapture, that is as close as can be to a master template of the singularity, the community, the unextinguishable sacredness of the human race."
—Toni Morrison, in her introduction to A Kind of Rapture
 
A Kind of Rapture brings together a selection of 51 color photos from Robert Bergman's two-year travels by car through the Rust Belt (Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Gary) and the East Coast, taking color pictures of everyday people who moved him profoundly. In fall 2009 and spring 2010, Robert Bergman will have his first two solo exhibitions at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. and PS1 MOMA.  The exhibition at the former will run from October 11, 2009 to January 10, 2010; that at the latter from October 25, 2009 to January 4, 2010. 
 
"[Bergman's] finest works bring to mind some of the greatest painted portraits…He has introduced the processes of unification, as in a painting, with the search for harmony, movement, variety, ad distinction within it, beyond what I have ever seen in a photograph…Here are masterful revelations of states of existence in the inner and outer person—truly profound works of art."
—Meyer Schapiro, in his afterward to A Kind of Rapture
 

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

  Every now and then, the art world offers up an unlikely story, and Robert Bergman's is one of them. He was born in New Orleans and raised mostly in Minneapolis. He began taking and developing snapshots at age 6, and save for a few teenage years he has strived to be a great photographer-artist ever since. But he has remained an out-of-step one, isolated from contemporary tastes, a cult figure to the few who have seen his work in person or in a 1998 book. The 65-year-old photographer went his own way over the past four decades, never selling a work until two years ago, but he nevertheless is about to burst onto the scene with two museum exhibitions, and next month he will have his first show at a commercial gallery, Yossi Milo in Chelsea, New York City.
—From The Wall Street Journal review by JUDITH H. DOBRZYNSKI

Product Details

• Hardcover: 120 pages
• Publisher: Pantheon; 1st edition (November 3, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 067944257X
• ISBN-13: 978-0679442578
• Product Dimensions: 9.8 x 0.8 x 11.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,049,921 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A work unlike any other, November 23, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: A Kind of Rapture (Hardcover)

This superb book is nearly uncategorizable. The portraits contained in this volume, described as "color pictures of everyday people" taken with "a simple 35-mm camera, amateur film, no tripod, and no special lighting" are unlike any other photographs ever published. On a technical level, Robert Bergman's work equals the best of any of photographer now working (including any of a number of celebrity lensmen) while his painterly use of color, texture, and composition is unrivaled. This in itself would be enough for most photographers: in sensual terms there's much to startle and delight the eye. But for Bergman, the revelation of the inner life of the subject reigns supreme, and his masterly technique is entirely in the service of his manifest sympathy for each person whom he presents to us. It's here that these images depart so markedly from what we are used to seeing in a photograph of a person--each individual is revealed with the most penetrating gaze, but with such tenderness of spirit as to leave his or her human dignity unsullied. It's not photography, it's art. As Toni Morrison concludes in her Introduction, "Occasionally there arises an event or moment that one knows immediately will forever mark a place in the history of artistic endeavor. Robert Bergman's portraits represent such a moment, such an event."

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Among the most breathtaking color portraits you will see., November 21, 1998

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: A Kind of Rapture (Hardcover)

I am much more of a devotee of black and white images than color - especially portrait photography. But, this incredible display of artistry sweeps me off my feet! The artistic depth and personal sensitivity displayed through this work makes me want to know more and see more from the master photographer who created it. You won't be disappointed with this purchase!

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 5 Stars PLUS! This is an absolutely stunning book!, November 9, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: A Kind of Rapture (Hardcover)

I'll say it again -- This is an absolutely stunning book! From Toni Morrison's gracefully written and thought-provoking foreward, through the 50 portraits themselves and onto Meyer Schapiro's comments, this book is not only moving, but is one which calls you back again and again. And each time you go back to it, you come away with new riches. I've been acquainted with Bergman's work for over 20 years but even so was unprepared for the impact this collection has. This is not an "inspirational" book according to the connotation the word currently seems to carry - "8 to 80, anyone can do it, feel better afterwards." But it brings a deeper level of inspiration, a way to look at something universal expressed in a way that does not deny the "fear and trembling" we feel in the face of universal truth, does not pander to us, but at the same time, through great kindness, gives us the eyes to see it and be able to examine some of its aspects more closely. As for the technical aspects of Mr. Bergman's photography and the production values of the book itself -- again, stunning! Hold the book, open it and begin the walk through the gallery -- it is a very physical experience -- much more akin to being in a exhibit than leafing through a book. If you can only buy one book this year, buy this one!