SCHERER & TAK, KEES & MAX - This Is New York.
1961. Paper. London: Andre Deutsch / Bruna. 1961. First edition. 12mo. Stiff glazed pictorial wraps. A gorgeous copy of this excellent look at New York City profusely and beautifully illustrated with deep, gorgeous gravure reproduced photographs by Kees Scherer. Somewhat reminiscent of photographer William Klein's images in his seminal book "New York. Life Is Good For You and Good In New York Trance Witness Reveals". Scarce. especially in this beautiful condition. A great book.
New York in Photobooks is the catalogue of a traveling exhibition curated by Horacio Fernández, who is also the editor of the book: a collaborative effort in which, in addition to the many images, there are texts by numerous photography scholars.
The photographers represented include Berenice Abbott, Nobuyoshi Araki, Cecil Beaton, Mario Bucovich, Roy DeCarava, Bruce Davidson, Raymond De-pardon, Juan Fresán, Bruce Gilden, György Lörinczy, Lewis Hine, Evelyn Hofer, Karol Kallay, André Kertész, William Klein Helen Levitt, Danny Lyon, Daido Moriyama, Ugo Mulas, Robert Rauschenberg, Kees Scherer, Aaron Siskind, Weegee, Kojima Yasutaka, Ruiko Yoshida, among others.
Kees Scherer (1920-1993) was born in the Amsterdam working-class district called ‘de Jordaan’. Shortly after WWII, he began working as a freelance photographer and reached the pinnacle of photojournalism with high-profile reports about the flood disaster in the province of Zeeland (1953) and the Hungarian uprising (1956). He initiated World Press Photo in 1955 with Bram Wisman. In addition to his extensive work in colour, Scherer’s early work in black/white has also been receiving increasing attention in recent years. He depicted his favourite cities in exhaustive detail, namely Amsterdam, Paris and New York. (JR)
