35mmdelux Posted November 7, 2005 Share Posted November 7, 2005 Would someone tell me which is Ralph Gibson's best publication? I have the budget for one of his books but I've never seen one in any of the bookstores. Please advise. Thanks, Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andrew1 Posted November 7, 2005 Share Posted November 7, 2005 "Deus Ex Machina" is probably the best single Gibson book out there. It's not really great quality printing, but it does contain almost all (if not all) of the images from almost all of his earlier works, many of which are small, older volumes printed in limited numbers, and are generally very hard to find these days (i.e. the Black Trilogy). "Deus Ex Machina" also contains a good number of images from limited edition portfolios and other things that were not widely released otherwise. It's really his whole fine art career until about 2001 or so when it was printed. As I said earlier, it may not be the best made book you'll own, but if you're only going to have one Ralph Gibson book, this should be it. It would also make a very nice springboard into perhaps collecting his other works singly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aoresteen Posted November 7, 2005 Share Posted November 7, 2005 I've always like The Somnambulist but it's hard to find now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobtodrick Posted November 7, 2005 Share Posted November 7, 2005 I'd second Andrews take. I've got 7 Gibson books. My favorite is APROPOS DE MARY JANE because it was a signed gift from the photographer. Depending on what you like, most of his books are worth owning. Many are of nudes, there are the books on France...and now guitars and books. But Deus Ex Machina does, as Andrew explains have it all. A great overview of Gibsons work if you want to own 1 book. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wgpinc Posted November 7, 2005 Share Posted November 7, 2005 This may be a tough one to find. I bought a copy of 'Deux Ex Machina' that had been remaindered at Border's Books for about $7 USD a few years back. I remember one of the best Leica photographers I knew back in the 70s looking at some pictures by Gibson: "Look at this art school s***' he said. Gibson still gets published occasionally and hopefully he's making a living. Seems like he did a Leica add a while back. Like many 'creative' people opinions about him and his work vary. Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobtodrick Posted November 7, 2005 Share Posted November 7, 2005 Still gets published occasionally...huh. Check out http://www.ralphgibson.com/current/ I'd say this is a bit more than 'occasionally'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
squareframe Posted November 7, 2005 Share Posted November 7, 2005 'Infanta' Ralph Gibson is what Leica is all about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troll Posted November 7, 2005 Share Posted November 7, 2005 "Darkroom I and II." Personally, I don't care for his imagery -- it seems contrived. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jtk Posted November 7, 2005 Share Posted November 7, 2005 "contrived?"...I'll bet you think Disneyland and Hallmark cards are contrived too! What are you, some kind of communist? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
travis1 Posted November 7, 2005 Share Posted November 7, 2005 DEM for me too. Like the small prints.;0 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tim_franklin Posted November 8, 2005 Share Posted November 8, 2005 "The Somnambulist" is perhaps the classic Gibson book, but as said hard to find now (and expensive if you do). Not in my library sadly. I do have a German published book called "Light Years", which is pretty decent IMHO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jim_simmons Posted November 8, 2005 Share Posted November 8, 2005 The Somnambulist is good. My only Gibson book is Deja-Vu (1973). DEM is good if you want to see a variety of his pictures, but if you want a Gibson BOOK, then you should get one of the books that is true to the theme and vision that that particular book is about. His best work is about more than just individual photos. The pairings and total sequencing of Deja-Vu is evocative; the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david_myers2 Posted November 8, 2005 Share Posted November 8, 2005 I agree with the other posts that DEM gives a very good overview of Gibson's work up to about 2001. Light Years is also excellent, but Overtones is my favorite -- today, at least. Overtones is a presentation of diptychs, where he has drawn on about 40-50 images published previously. Gibson is a master of imagery, especially when he uses the book as a medium of presentation. David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raffaele_bartoli1 Posted November 8, 2005 Share Posted November 8, 2005 I second Deus Ex Machina too. Few pretty "intimate" shots, though, if you've got children around. "Brasil" is a recent one: David Allan Harvey colors in Gibson composition. I wouldn't bother, honestly. Raffaele Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prince_alfie Posted November 8, 2005 Share Posted November 8, 2005 Deux Ex Machina for a summary look at all of his work. Single book- Spirit of Burgandy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lee_shively Posted November 8, 2005 Share Posted November 8, 2005 "Deux Ex Machina" gets my vote just because it is such a wonderful sampling of his work over his career. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john_elder1 Posted November 8, 2005 Share Posted November 8, 2005 I recomend Light Years; a retrospective that is very well printed containing the best images from several of his Monographs. Really Nice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
35mmdelux Posted November 8, 2005 Author Share Posted November 8, 2005 Thank you all for your suggestions. As you know most of these publications are hard to find and your recommendations help me focus.Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
squareframe Posted November 9, 2005 Share Posted November 9, 2005 > strange - his stuff doesn't look like rangefinder style to me... you are sounding like a broken-record Peter A., and one where the vinyl is getting rather thin. I think Ralph Gibson's style exemplifies what a Leica rangefinder-camera contributes to a styling and method of image-capture. or so, that is what Ralph says incessantly about his work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MTC Photography Posted November 10, 2005 Share Posted November 10, 2005 I like DEJA-VU~{#,~}the book is large (21x30cm), with large photographs. Deux Ex Machina contains Deja-vu, the pictures are smaller. Overtones is interesting, Ralph Gibson arranged two pictures of different subject matter side by side on each page to produce a combined effect-- diptych effect. Actually Ralph Gibson had practiced diptych technique in his other album, for instance DEJA-VUE, instead of two pictures on one page, he put two pictures on two opposing pages to form a diptych spread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
watts Posted November 10, 2005 Share Posted November 10, 2005 <i>you are sounding like a broken-record Peter A., and one where the vinyl is getting rather thin. I think Ralph Gibson's style exemplifies what a Leica rangefinder-camera contributes to a styling and method of image-capture.</i><br><br>Actually, I think Peter has a point. Gibson is well known for his use of a Leica M and 50mm focal length but his very precise and rather starkly graphical compositions are not something many would immediately associate with 'rangefinder' photography. If anything, Gibson's work proves that old chestnut about the tool being secondary to the vision. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
squareframe Posted November 10, 2005 Share Posted November 10, 2005 I disagree (no surprise), and will also have to trust Ralph Gibson when he champions using a Leica and a fast-lens. it isn't a matter of dissecting an image to see if it fits some arbitrary 'rangefinder style' classification .. it's what can be done with a light, small, short-latency, fast camera of any type. Ralph Gibson is a master of cropping and post-processing. I also think he is a pre-visualization genius. talk to Ralph if you question his choice of equipment and working-style. 'Deus ex Machina' is a great overview of the Gibson oeuvre, however the images are small and pedestrianly printed. 'Chiaroscuro' is a major work of beauty and photographic-art. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nels Posted April 28, 2006 Share Posted April 28, 2006 After reading this dude's name uttered in such high reverence on this forum a few times and deciding to do something about it, I just stumbled upon this thread through google and ordered seven of his books - five used ones through abebooks (Overtones, Chiroscuro, Light Years, DEM, and Somnambulist) and two new ones (Brazil, and Refractions) from amazon. First I went to his website which put the hook in me. I just wanted to say thanks for all the recommendations above. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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