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Random Access: Photographs by John T. Hill

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Random Access spans 70 years of John T. Hill's photography, capturing "found compositions"—momentary, chance scenes that resonate personally. From a 1958 street in São Paulo to a 1970 Queens taxi interior, from political rallies to punk gatherings, and from portraits to landscapes, Hill's images are empathetic and inclusive, avoiding sentimentality or fixed interpretation. His work invites viewers to perceive the world with fresh, democratic eyes.
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Format: Hardback
$7299
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

Ideal for readers interested in photography, visual arts, and cultural history who appreciate thoughtful, wide-ranging documentary images that eschew conventional narratives.

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Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

Random Access is a collection of John T. Hill's photographs taken over 70 years, showing the remarkable scope and empathy of his vision. Hill's consistent focus over the decades has been what he calls "found compositions," recording "chance happenings that strike a personal chord."

From a street scene in São Paulo in 1958 to the interior of a Queens taxi in 1970, from John F. Kennedy at the podium of a 1960 rally to punks in Trafalgar Square, from Walker Evans' home to recent landscapes and still lifes, his work is democratic, curious, all-embracing. Hill celebrates the contradictions and imperfections of his subjects, engages but never sentimentalizes, and is careful to never impose a singular interpretation onto the viewer.

Here is none of the self-congratulation of "Look at what only I can see," but rather an open invitation for the viewer of "This is what you are also capable of seeing."

The eye traffics in feelings, not in thoughts. - Walker Evans

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9783969991763

Publisher: Steidl Publishers

Format: Hardback

Date Published: 16 March 2023

Country: Germany

Imprint: Steidl Verlag

Illustration: 34 black-and-white and 45 color photographs, Four-color process

Contributors:

  • Text by Kathy Leonard Czepiel
  • Text by Corinne A. Forti
  • Text by John T. Hill

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Width: 255.0mm

Height: 260.0mm

Weight: 1120g

Pages: 156

About the Author

John T. Hill is a graphic designer, author and photographer. He taught both graphic design and photography at the Yale University School of Art, co-founded Yale's Department of Photography and was its first co-director of graduate studies. Hill's current focus is on book and exhibition design, and writing. Two of his book designs were selected for the AIGA 50 Books of the Year Award. During his 19-year tenure as executor of the Walker Evans Estate, Hill produced a number of Evans books and exhibitions including Walker Evans: At Work, Walker Evans: The Hungry Eye, Walker Evans: Lyric Documentary and Walker Evans: Depth of Field. Other books he has designed, authored or co-authored include Calder by Matter, W. Eugene Smith Photographs, Edward Weston, Forms of Passion and May Day at Yale: Recollections 1970.

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