Luigi Ghirri: It's Beautiful Here, Isn't It... [Hardcover]

Germano Celant (Author), Paola Ghirri (Editor), Luigi Ghirri (Photographer), William Eggleston (Preface)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 2008

Luigi Ghirri was an extraordinary photographer, as well as a writer and curator whose career was so rich and varied that it seems like a lesson in the contemporary history of the medium. Although well known in his native Italy, Ghirri does not yet have the international audience his work merits--perhaps because he died so young. It's Beautiful Here, Isn't It...--the first book published on Ghirri in the U.S.--will establish him as the seminal artist he was. Uncannily prescient, Ghirri shared the sensibility of what became known in the U.S. as the New Color and the New Topographics movements before they had even been named. Like his counterparts in Italian cinema, Ghirri believed that the local and the universal were inseparable and that life's polarities--love and hate, present and past--were equally compelling. Not surprisingly, his interests encompassed all the arts: he worked in Giorgio Morandi's studio and with architect Aldo Rossi, while influencing a generation of photographers, including Olivo Barbieri and Martin Parr. This dynamic new book includes a selection of Ghirri's essays published in English for the first time, as well as a selected chronology.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Very much in tune with the conceptual art of the 1970s, his photography was a means for expressing this metaphysical vision rather than for capturing Cartier-Bresson's 'decisive moment.' His approach transformed Italian photography of that era, and his use of color influenced a generation of photographers such as Martin Parr and William Eggleston." -- John Lavine --Color Magazine: For Collectors of Fine Photography

"[Ghirri has] a restless and playful imagination--one that regarded photography as 'a great adventure in thinking and looking.' Ghirri teases the idea of landscape with images of toy houses in a net bag, a building in a snow globe, and a woman looming over a scale-model city. But no matter how intellectual, his pictures about pictures project pleasure, amusement, and an openness to the unexpected." --The New Yorker

"His landscapes' flat, white sunlight and washed-out palette of stone, sand, and sky; his obvious love for the cities and people of Emilia-Romagna; and his metaphysical concern with the constructed reality of the image locate him indelibly within Italy as both place and art-historical precedent." -- Brian Sholis --ARTFORUM

"Subverting traditional landscape photography's heroic impulse, Ghirri prized representational antics over the mere grandeur of volcanoes and dizzying cliffs... Ghirri sparks the moment with storytelling, and the tabeleau grows large even as it shrinks within his viewfinder." -- Albert Mobilio --BOOKFORUM

"Ghirri frames his images of maps, street signs, posters, and houses (and sometimes posters of houses), in a way that makes you chuckle, but he can also provoke loftier reactions like surprise and wonder." --The New Yorker: The Book Bench, Loose Leafs from the New Yorker Books Department

Product Details

• Hardcover: 152 pages
• Publisher: Aperture; First edition (June 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1597110582
• ISBN-13: 978-1597110587
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 11.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #261,912 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If you like Eggleston, give this a try, August 18, 2009

By 

W. Rosen "chickendog" (USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Luigi Ghirri: It's Beautiful Here, Isn't It... (Hardcover)

Ghirri was producing his color photographs around the same time as Eggleston but both were working independently of each other. It's interesting to see that Ghirri had a similar sensibility but all of his photographs are in Europe. They are wonderful to look at and if you like William Eggleston's work then this is highly recommended. A well printed book from Aperture.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding., October 3, 2008

By 

HWJ3 (New Jersey) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Luigi Ghirri: It's Beautiful Here, Isn't It... (Hardcover)

I bought this book as a birthday present for my sister. But I think I'm going to get another copy for my own collection.
This is contemporary photography, shots of an open door or an empty kitchen... But as the photographer says in the title, he manages to capture the beauty of place, mundane but beautiful. I am impressed. He is an ingenious photographer.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Filled with countless color photos, as well as essays covering Ghirri's reflections, July 11, 2008

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Luigi Ghirri: It's Beautiful Here, Isn't It... (Hardcover)

"It's Beautiful Here, Isn't It..." is not just a book title; it's a statement that perfectly sums up this newest collection of photography from Luigi Ghirri. Filled with countless color photos, as well as essays covering Ghirri's reflections on the time he took the photos and the atmosphere surrounding the events, "It's Beautiful Here, Isn't It..." adds a personal touch to the gorgeous shots on film. "It's Beautiful Here, Isn't It..." is an ideal coffee table book and a top pick for community library photography collections.