JIM MARSHALL:
SHOW ME THE PICTURE
by Jim Marshall, Amelia Davis; compiled
by Karen Grigsby Bates, Michelle
Margetts, Joel Selvin and Meg Shiffler.
Chronicle Books, $55.
It’s kind of unfair that one photographer
got to take the photos of Hendrix lighting
his guitar on fire at Monterey Pop Festival
AND the shot of Johnny Cash shooting the
bird (“one for the warden”) at San Quentin.
But that was just Jim. For a time, Marshall
was seemingly everywhere. From capturing
contemplative moments with Coltrane to
good times with Waylon and Willie and
his famous, vulnerable frames with Janis,
Marshall set an unreachable bar for aspring
music photographers.
Show Me the Picture also introduced
me to aspects of Marshall’s work I’d never
known. His street photography and images
associated with civil rights and social
movements are powerful and were just as
important to him. Marshall had an inherent
talent for depicting these struggles of race
and class with a grace and dignity for his
subjects.
THE MEETING by Nadav
Kander. Steidl, $95.
Nadav Kander’s photographs read like
no others. The viewer has no choice but
to feel and imagine. There’s childhood
innocence in “Ella and Talia” and “Oren
(Batman),” blurry intensity in the Michael
Stipe and David Beckham portraits and
an uneasy honesty in “Schoolgirl (white
photographer).” He conjures darker, oth-
erworldly scenes with curiousity, strength
and vulnerability in his subjects. “I don’t
photograph to tell stories. I photograph to
make stories,” Kander states. “If I manage
to make a portrait that stirs a viewer then
they complete what I call ‘the triangle’ by
bringing their own story or state of mind to
the picture.” The Meeting is nothing short
of cinematic, and its cast of characters
ranges from President Donald Trump to
Desmond Tutu.
PORTRAITS by Gunner Stahl.
With contributions by Swae Lee and Chi
Modu. Abrams Image, $24.99.
I place Gunner Stahl’s Portraits in this
collection to contrast the long-standing,
iconic careers of Marshall and Kander.
This young man is still on the beginning
of his journey. And he is down for the ride.
Literally. He mentions hopping in a van with
Rae Sremmurd and driving 14 hours from
his grandmother’s house in Mississippi
down to Miami, then right back again. In
2014, Stahl ran up in the FADER office un-
invited, camped out and asked for (humbly
demanded) his shot. It’s this boldness and
surrender to whatever the moment offers
that positions him to work with some of the
hottest artists and legends of our time (The
Weeknd, A$AP Rocky, Billie Eilish and Ric
Flair) and land cover shoots for FADER. This
book is a mile marker. “I’m in this for twenty
or thirty years. I’m not in it for right now.
That doesn’t drive you to become better.”
ERRORS OF POSSESSION
by Garrett Grove, Travis Klunick.
Trespasser, $50.
Errors of Possession is a glimpse into
small coastal farming and logging towns in
Oregon and Washington. The book notes
the photographs were taken leading up
to and shortly after the 2016 presidential
election. Although the images in Errors
are very obscure and don’t come across
political in any way, they do embody some
of the feelings and themes I associate with
that time. The portraits are distinctly blue
collar and small town. The landscapes are
mostly broad and desolate. The buildings
are worn and the interiors are empty. Errors
is almost completely void of text so Grove
lets you wonder. Who are these people and
where are these places? What is going on
during this moment in their lives? It feels
like there’s something missing. And maybe
that’s the point.
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