Minor White: The Eye That Shapes

Rating:
Summary: An investigative, retrospective view of Minor White
Review: Minor White was one of the most important photographic artists active during the thirty years after World War II. Living during this period in San Francisco, then Rochester, and finally near Boston, he produced a singular body of imagery that assures his place in the history of twentieth-century photography. His was a pictorial achievement that helped shape a distinctly modern American photographic style that is characterized by luminous clarity, lyricsm, and grace.

MINOR WHITE: THE EYE THAT SHAPES is an investigative, retrospective view of Minor White. In exploring the theme that White termed "camera as a way of life," and in elaborating on the richness and diversity of his photographic endeavor, this publication presents, thirteen years after his death, an affectionate and affirmative view of the man and the artist. An effort has been made to reveal in depth the inner workings of his existence and the features of his photography that are perhaps indistinct for many people, including those familiar with MIRRORS MESSAGE MANIFESTATIONS, a complicated sequence of words and images that was White's own presentation of his life and, as has been said, was an autobiography with his own special truth. This publication is a documented and more thorough interpretation, presented in an evolutionary way, beginning with an analysis of his earliest creative endeavors through to the last. From the extensive biography, the highly introspective selections from his journal, and the discussion of his sexuality, to the lesser known photographs that White had set aside over the years, every effort has been made to bring the reader closer to the intimate reality of this man. 289 pages; black and white, and color photography. 11.5 inches by 9.5 inches.