Stephen Shore took colour photography beyond the domain of advertising and fashion, and his large-format American landscapes have become a vital photographic tradition over the past three decades. This book contains previously unpublished work that has never been exhibited.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
A teenaged photographic aspirant who hung around at Andy Warhol’s factory in its mid-60s heyday, Shore found success early: his first show at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art was held when he was only 23. These 152 full-page, full-color shots comprise his serial project of the 70s, "Uncommon Places," which documented roadside America with a dispassionate, Andy-like emptiness. It’s an aesthetic that has been endlessly co-opted by American filmmakers like Gus Van Sant and Jim Jarmusch, but some of these 12 7/8" × 10 5/16" shots of prairies, parking lots, polyester-clad couples and plastic hotel furnishings manage to seem fresh nonetheless. Shore’s concluding interview with Lynn Tillman makes the Warhol connection explicit, and argues for a kind of meaning-making from the void: "Formalism often sounds like a kind of visual nicety, but if I use it, that’s not how I mean it." Beautiful, lush reproductions with minimal captions allow the photos to speak for themselves.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.
Review
"What is remarkable about the new and expanded Uncommon Places is how fresh and fine and undated these 1970s photographs appear in 2004." -- Edgar Allen Beem --Photo District News
"If Walker Evans and Robert Frank established an 'on the road' tradition in photography, then Stephen Shore ranks among their natural heirs... [but] Mr. Shore's work is not quite so sober as Evans's. There is an antic undercurrent to his straight-faced pictures, as if, after staring at the sheer actuality of what was laid out before him, he might have burst out laughing before making the picture. Think of Walker Evans -- stoned." -- Philip Gefter --The New York Times
"...the photographs in 'Uncommon Places' stir nostalgia for a tidier, less crowded, less sinister America, spiritually bleak, but minus the open sores of economic inequity apparent today." -- Kenneth Baker -- The San Francisco Chronicle
"Stephen Shore was one of the two photographers in the 1970s--the other was William Eggleston--who determined the course of contemporary color photography... The subject of the book is, in essence, the American vernacular seen in color, and after all these years little of the brilliance of Shore's vision has dimmed. The pictures are as radical as Eggleston's and still are essential viewing for anyone interested in the medium." -- Alan G. Artner -- The Chicago Tribune
"Uncommon Places: The Complete Works offers the viewer a unique opportunity to share Shore's revelry in the 'delight of seeing', and to travel with him as he refines his photography dexterity, transforming his acute observations into fine art." -- Aaron Schuman -- Modern Painters --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.
"If Walker Evans and Robert Frank established an 'on the road' tradition in photography, then Stephen Shore ranks among their natural heirs... [but] Mr. Shore's work is not quite so sober as Evans's. There is an antic undercurrent to his straight-faced pictures, as if, after staring at the sheer actuality of what was laid out before him, he might have burst out laughing before making the picture. Think of Walker Evans -- stoned." -- Philip Gefter --The New York Times
"...the photographs in 'Uncommon Places' stir nostalgia for a tidier, less crowded, less sinister America, spiritually bleak, but minus the open sores of economic inequity apparent today." -- Kenneth Baker -- The San Francisco Chronicle
"Stephen Shore was one of the two photographers in the 1970s--the other was William Eggleston--who determined the course of contemporary color photography... The subject of the book is, in essence, the American vernacular seen in color, and after all these years little of the brilliance of Shore's vision has dimmed. The pictures are as radical as Eggleston's and still are essential viewing for anyone interested in the medium." -- Alan G. Artner -- The Chicago Tribune
"Uncommon Places: The Complete Works offers the viewer a unique opportunity to share Shore's revelry in the 'delight of seeing', and to travel with him as he refines his photography dexterity, transforming his acute observations into fine art." -- Aaron Schuman -- Modern Painters --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.
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42 of 45 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
'...and now, the rest of the story'.,
This review is from: Stephen Shore: Uncommon Places (Hardcover)
On page six of this large book, Stephen Shore writes, in the Artist's Note, "The book you are holding in your hands amounts to what might be called the photographic equivalent of a director's cut". It is in the nature of such things you now get an additional ninety-four photos with the forty-nine that were in the original 1982 Aperture edition, though this is not strictly true because some that were in the original are not in this edition.
I bought the original book because I loved the way Shore captured the everyday urban American outdoors and of course the amazing color and detail. This new edition is even better because the photos are now larger, mostly 10.5 by 8.25 inches. The other thing I love about some of these photos is the way Shore captures the street corner, this seems to be a favorite composition (stretching back to the famous FSA photos of the Thirties) with contemporary photographers and Photorealists painters like Richard Estes or Davis Cone. Shore's 'El Paso Street, Texas, July 5, 1975' could just as easily be an Estes painting. There are several corner photos in the book and they are just stunning. Another reviewer has commented on the amount of detail in these photos, helped of course by the two hundred plus screen, the original book used a 175 dpi. Apart from the screen it is interesting to compare images that appear in both books and the color does vary. 'Beverly Boulevard, June 21 1975' in the original (page 39) is predominately brown for the street area, in this edition (page 115) it has changed to a predominately blue cast. I wonder if this is the sort of thing that concerns collectors of first edition photo books? In addition to the photos in this beautifully designed and printed book there are two text pieces, the first one, by Stephen Schmidt-Wulffen, includes twelve photos from Shore's 'American Surfaces'. The back of the book includes biographical notes and a useful bibliography. This latest 'Uncommon Places' will be a book I'll look through for some years to come. ***FOR AN INSIDE LOOK click 'customer images' under the cover.
10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
a TRUE master,
By jack kerr (lowell) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Stephen Shore: Uncommon Places (Hardcover)
this is one of the first great works of color photography, and is still as fresh and significant as it was 30 years ago. forget all the imitators of today's contemporary scene, this was one of the first and is still better than anything to come along since (with the exception of sternfeld's american prospects which is equally great).
and for those who say this is snapshot photography, think again. view camera, deliberation, and intent here are razor sharp and NOT filled with accidents or casual images.
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Awesome,
By
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This review is from: Stephen Shore: Uncommon Places (Hardcover)
This is my new favorite book. I found it by accident as I didn't know Stephen Shore. The feeling, mood, and color in his images are so great. If you're like me who like anything 70's, then you will love this book.
His photography was considered very cutting edge at a time when all fine art was shot in black & white. Mr. Shore has a gift to make the ordinary like extra-ordinary and beautiful. If you love photography, you need to own this book! [...]
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