Sam Stourdzé – författare

The history of photography is teeming with portraits of musicians made iconic by their album covers: Thelonious Monk by W. Eugene Smith, Miles Davis by Irving Penn, Grace Jones by Jean-Paul Goude, Laurie Anderson by Robert Mapplethorpe. The history of album cover art also includes collaborations between prominent figures, such as Mick Rock and David Bowie, Annie Leibovitz and John Lennon, Lee Friedlander and John Coltrane, Nobuyoshi Araki and Björk, Anton Corbijn and U2, and Robert Frank with the Rolling Stones—not to mention Francis Wolff’s legendary work with Blue Note, the record label he cofounded. Musicians and designers have also sifted through photography’s rich history for powerful photographs to match and keep company with the music enclosed within: Anders Petersen’s classic Café Lehmitz portrait of a man nestling into a woman’s bosom stands in for Tom Waits on the cover of Swordfishtrombones; Big Star and Alex Chilton push the listener into a corner with William Eggleston’s Red Ceiling on their album Radio City; Rage Against the Machine goes for the jugular on its self-titled album with the anonymous Vietnam War photo of the self-immolation of a Buddhist monk. Images like the Abbey Road crosswalk are deeply inscribed in our collective memory, yet few details are known about the photographer. All of these—and more—are included in this compendium of electrifying images and the albums they grace. Includes albums featuring images by David Bailey, Guy Bourdin, Anton Corbijn, Roy DeCarava, Robert Frank, Lee Friedlander, Nan Goldin, Luigi Ghirri, Jean-Paul Goude, Brian Griffin, William Klein, David LaChapelle, Danny Lyon, Robert Mapplethorpe, Jean-Baptiste Mondino, Ryan McGinley, Helmut Newton, Martin Parr, Anders Petersen, Pierre et Gilles, Hiro, Cindy Sherman, W. Eugene Smith, Pennie Smith, Juergen Teller, Jeff Wall, Andy Warhol, Albert Watson, William Wegman, and more.

Chromotherapia: The Feel-Good Color Photography offers genuine relief from the black-and-white world. Often disparaged, not always taken seriously, color photography has nevertheless allowed artists to get out their palettes and “paint.” Many have freed themselves from the medium’s documentary status to explore the common roots of the image and the imaginary, flirting with the worlds of Surrealism and Pop. Famed Italian visual artist and curator Maurizio Cattelan and curator Sam Stourdzé offer a rereading of the history of color photography through the 20th century into the 21st, and through the works of over 20 artists who take us on a journey into vibrant, acidulous worlds. Treat yourself to sunny yellow, azure blue, bright red, bubbly orange and more, straight from the lenses of the biggest names in color photography. Artist include: Yevonde Middleton, Harold Edgerton, Erwin Blumenfeld, Walter Chandoha, William Wegman, Hiro, Guy Bourdin, Alex Prager, Juno Calypso, Adrienne Raquel, Miles Aldridge, Ouka Leele, Hassan Hajjaj, Ruth Ossai, Pierre et Gilles, Sandy Skoglund, Martin Parr, Arnold Odermatt, Toiletpaper.