Helmut Newton: SUMO Author: Visit Amazon's June Newton Page | Language: English | ISBN:
3836517302 | Format: PDF
Helmut Newton: SUMO Description
Amazon.com Review
Bringing an entirely new slant to the concept of the coffee-table book,
SUMO is a suitably enormous homage to 79-year-old Helmut Newton, the master of subversive and erotic photography. "I wanted to build a monument to the most important photographer of the 20th century," comments Benedikt Taschen, the publisher behind
SUMO. He delivers. Weighing over 65 pounds, measuring more than two feet long, and breaking any previous size record in book publishing,
SUMO contains 480 pages of every aspect of Newton's outstanding career in photography. Each copy of the book is bound by hand and numbered and signed by the artist. In order to showcase this colossus, the book is packaged with its own stand designed by Philippe Starck.
This outsized volume contains the body of Newton's controversial yet iconographic work, documenting fashion, fetishism, and above all an overriding obsession with voyeurism that can make the viewer feel complicit or uneasy by turns. Newton himself describes SUMO as "terrifying and outrageous. I don't even look at it as a book.... I look at it as an object." --Catherine Taylor, Amazon.co.uk --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From the Publisher
"HELMUT NEWTON'S SUMO WINS INTERNATIONAL CENTER OF PHOTOGRAPHY'S 1999 INFINITY AWARD AT MAY 11 CEREMONY
Helmut Newton's SUMO published by TASCHEN has been judged the Best Book on Photography Published in 1999 by world-renowned International Center of Photography.
SUMO, the biggest and most costly book ever produced, was judged best in a field of outstanding photography books published in the last year of the 20th century. Conceived as a monumental tribute to Helmut Newton, arguably the most influential and controversial of contemporary photographers, SUMO has become a star in its own right by winning this honor in a field filled with worthy books devoted to photography."
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
See all Editorial Reviews
- Hardcover: 464 pages
- Publisher: TASCHEN America Llc; Har/Bklt edition (September 21, 2009)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 3836517302
- ISBN-13: 978-3836517300
- Product Dimensions: 17 x 12 x 4 inches
- Shipping Weight: 16.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
I remember seeing the original version of Sumo at a Powell's bookstore and wanting it very much. I woulda, coulda, shoulda bought it but its huge size killed the deal; there was just no where that I could safely store it.
Thus, when I stumbled upon this book here on Amazon it took me all of 30 seconds to decide to pull the trigger. Why the hesitation? Primarily because it is a Taschen publication and I have been disappointed by the quality of nearly every Taschen book I have ever handled. This one, unfortunately, is no different, and I believe that I shall return it for a different and, said hopefully, better copy for that reason (One of the pages in my book has errant ink lines running up a quarter of the page from what looks like a roller). I also have a problem with Amazon for shipping me a book with a large tear in the custom made carrying case in which the book comes, by the way, indicating crappy quality control.
This is a an oversized folio book, large and heavy and imposing like the original in miniature. Its immensity indicates that it needed the space in order to do the photographic images justice. Well, I suppose that it does but the problem is that the plates are mealy looking, especially those in the front part of the book. I don't have the original to compare them to but I suspect that this granularity is due to poor reprodutions in the book and not from the original plates; although it is conceivable that the images lost some sharpness due to being blown up, but barely.
Instead, I would argue, based upon my experience with Taschen specifically and Printed in Italy artbooks generally that the fault lies in the Italian printers. These days the best art books are produced in Germany or Japan.
Helmut Newton: SUMO Preview
Link
Please Wait...