The Radical Eye

The Radical Eye presents Elton John's truly remarkable collection of international modernist photography, originating from his personal passion. Since 1991, he has amassed more than two thousand photographs, featuring key figures from Europe and America alongside many of the foremost photographers from Japan, Eastern Europe, and Latin America.

This book compiles the finest works from 1920 to 1950, a period widely regarded as photography's 'coming of age'. It was a time of great experimentation and innovation when artists pushed the boundaries of the medium.

"New Vision" refers to the term coined by László Moholy-Nagy in the mid-1920s to describe the way photography could be used to see the world through a modern lens. As new technology developed, it allowed the freedom to both experiment and record, leading to new developments such as photograms, typographics, and the bird's-eye and worm's-eye views.

This period also encompassed key avant-garde movements of the 20th century in which photography played a central role, including dada, surrealism, the Bauhaus, and Russian constructivism.

With over 150 illustrations, an interview with Elton John exploring the motivations behind his collecting, and essays examining the photographs within the history of modernism, The Radical Eye provides an exploration of the impact of technical innovations on the form. It will introduce a new audience to this unique body of work while serving as an indispensable resource for those already familiar with the period.