november-books

Tuesday, 16 April 2013

Serge Lutens

Huge and amazing monograph from Shiseido art director Serge Lutens combining Mehndi, Commedia dell'Arte and Kabuki influences into an image of beauty and artifice quite like nothing else. Very new wave and very brilliant.

Much more elusive than one would imagine- tribute to the much loved (and talked about) phenomenon of Boombox. Full of club kids, the usual faces, posers, queens and half of what used to be East London (R.I.P.). A rather charming portrait of a particular time and place.

Excellent book documenting nineties club culture. 'Cleo Campert was the official photographer of the famous RoXY club, which was burned down in 1999. The RoXY was the first club in Holland to play house music. Since the end of the 1980's she has taken photos of DJs and extatic partygoers at festivals, on the beach, at afterparties and illegal parties in Warehouses, in castles and in swimmingpools, on Ibiza and in the country.UIT is the definitive photobook of the effervescent party life of the 1990s.'

Amazing Artefact of the new wave era. Aside of the songs (sex drugs, sweet gene vincent, if i was with a woman, billericay dickie etc.), there are 16 pages of amazing Barney Bubbles collages and artworks, cut and pasted in duotone. Astounding!

Brilliant book on youth tribes, that not only includes the usual punks, skins, rockabilly people, but Krishnas, Sic Boys and quite a few other very obscure niches that didn't last for very long. Also has a notable appearance by the UK chapter of the hells angels, and alot of piercing and tattoos (wroblewski specialised in photographing body modification prior to this book). A very individual take, with superb details on the more tribal aspects of subculture.

Scarce document of the Italian Skinhead scene in the nineties. Tons of photographs, very nice to see the mediterranean take on an enduringly british form of youth culture. Ace.

Self published and so difficult to find. Probably the best, most detailed and comprehensive document on skinheads that exists. Ridgers is well known as a documenter of youth culture, and has a huge archive stretching back to the seventies. This book collects for the first time the best of his Skinhead photographs from London, Brighton, Southend etc. and has over 200 previously unpublished images. The colour spreads are incredible, and the detailing is superb. Brilliant!