City: Book Two

MacLean, John

Code: 3009

ISBN: 9780955867330

Publisher: Hunter & James

New Soft Cover First Edition, Signed by the photographer

Price: £20

In stock, ready to ship

Signed by the Photographer Hand Numbered Limited Edition of 800 copies Continuing his City Series 'A selection of personal images taken from around the world in that twilight time between locations and assignments when photographers though not "working" are still seeing. These contemporary colour images are a world apart from his architectural work, but equally as striking.' From the photographer 'The intention of this body of work has not been to document specific cities or individuals - it is an endeavor to construct 'my own city' through photographs. The camera allows my internal world to overlap with the external - it fuses the two together - to create a third place. Forms and chance encounters are recorded, and these become a catalogue of my ideas and values. City is a microcosm of calmness, but one empty of the qualities most easily celebrated. Everyday objects are liberated from the drudgery of their existence, frequently forming a rapport with other objects. Each questions its own history - how it came to reach this place. Here, the photograph can exalt a hosepipe into an object of affection or recast a tree into a flattened, synthetic structure. A machine registers as a nocturnal beacon of light, a collection of trophies seem to have waited their whole lives to come together. In the City , the aesthetics of science are cherished in a world of geometries, energy, interference patterns and diffracted colour. Random motion distributes seedlings on a white car bonnet. A block of ice radiates before entropy erases its outline. Underground, neon light generates a deep glow of blue. Chemicals bleed across concrete whilst the camera records the quality of light and the quality of surface. City is a place where people either shelter in solitude, or strive to make their voices heard. An environment interwoven with intensely private, emotional states. The isolated everyman moves from place to place, obscured by screens, rarely facing the camera, watched over by the urban monolith. Traces of his ambition are in evidence behind glass, taped to walls, cut into snow. Fragments of narrative combine with abstractions, tempting the viewer to create meaning from inconclusive evidence.' Born in Buckinghamshire in 1969, John began using a camera at the age of 14 when he discovered the book "American Images" featuring the work of Garry Winogrand, Robert Frank, Lewis Baltz and John Gossage. He went on to graduate with a BA (Hons) in Photography and spent four years working in the Royal College of Art. As a freelance photographer now based in London, John's work is specialised in the field of Architecture. Working all over the world, with a cliental of some of the worlds top Architects, designers and corporations John's photographs have been widely published in books and periodicals. In 2005, John produced the book 21 Recent Photographs and exhibited at View Gallery, London. A year later, new work was exhibited at Studio One, London. In 2008, 48 Recent Photographs was published: a photobook that represented a cross-section of work from his most extensive project to date: City . In the same year, his exhibition 'Brasilia' was held at the Architectural Association, London. John MacLean. City: Book Two. First edition 2010. Designed by Wayne Daly. Hunter & James 16.3 x 24cm, 88 pp, 4-colour, perfect bound, limited edition ISBN 9780955867330