Sin & Salvation in Baptist
Town by Matt Eich. Sturm & Drang, $59.
Sin & Salvation takes place in Greenwood,
Mississippi in a neighborhood called Baptist
Town. What started out as an assignment for
AARP (about rural health care in the Missis-
sippi Delta) turned into a heartfelt and lasting
connection to a community. After several
months making pictures for this project, an
18-year-old man he had previously photo-
graphed, named Demtrius “Butta” Anderson,
was murdered. So Matt Eich felt compelled to
return for the wake and funeral. He continued
to document the people of Baptist Town and
facilitated a Polaroid booklet project for the
students of Delta Streets Academy.
In Eich’s statement on the work, he
takes to task how problematic and limiting
photography can be. Regardless of good
intentions, he knows the medium can
reinforce stereotypes. “At best, I can only
show a small portion of this incredibly
beautiful and complicated place and
disconnected fragments of my own personal
experiences. They stem from my desire
to better understand and counteract the
deepening racial and socioeconomic rift in
America. If images are capable of anything, I
hope they help plant seeds of empathy.”
Sally Mann: A Thousand
Crossings by Sally Mann. Abrams
Close by Martin Schoeller. Steidl, $85.
Close is a collection of Martin Schoeller’s
signature larger-than-life head shots. He
levels the playing field by presenting
politicians, athletes, religious leaders,
musicians, innovators, the houseless,
actors and a race car driver within the same
composition and lighting. The neutral glance,
tight crop and shallow depth of field allow
the viewer to digest the complexities and
textures of each subjects’ face without the
distraction of backgrounds, flashy wardrobe
or expression. The contrast of certain pairings
freeze you on the spread, like Donald Trump
and Colin Kaepernick, Kanye West and Elon
Musk, or Lil Wayne and Henry Kissinger.
My lady also wants to add that this would
be a great book for popsicle-stick masks
for a Halloween party. Expensive, sure. But
sometimes you gotta throw down for a good
costume.
I kid, Martin. She would never do that.
But my daughter would.
Books, $55.
A Thousand Crossings encompasses
decades of work from one of the greatest
living American photographers. An opening
quote from John Glenday really sets the tone
for the readers:
“You see
it's neither pride, nor gravity but love
that pulls us back down to the world.
...
The soul makes a thousand crossings,
the heart, just one.”
That love for family, the land and
exploration is really what Sally Mann’s work
is all about. She shows us intimate moments
of innocence and frailty within her own
family. She illuminates the beauty of haunted
Southern lands and never tries to sidestep its
sordid and brutal history. Rather, she employs
19th-century processes that really bring out
the ghosts. We are looking at her world from
the lens of some spiritual plane we can't
access on our own.
Mark Seliger: Photographs
by Mark Seliger. Abrams Books, $75.
Mark Seliger is a chameleon. With
more than 30 years of work under his belt,
he’s mastered the art of transforming into
whatever the situation allows. When to
push, when to give. In Photographs, you see
Seliger easily move from high-concept scenes
(Kurt Cobain with severed doll heads or Jerry
Seinfeld as the Tin Man) to straightfoward,
timeless captures (the best damn portrait
you will ever see of Tom Petty). Along with
his well-known works from Rolling Stone,
GQ and Vanity Fair, the book also features
some of his landscapes and personal work,
including documentary photography from
Cuba, Holocaust survivor portraits and the
trans community of Christopher Street.
Seliger also offers insights to these projects
and behind the scenes dirt from select shoots
in an included interview conducted by
director/comedian Judd Apatow.
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