gregory t. davis

if you're a fan of weston, this is definitely the book for you. the work represented inside is from the private collection of michael p. mattis and judith g. hochberg, and ranges from very early platinum prints, to his time in mexico, all the way to his latter years in point lobos.

one thing that stands out from other books on weston is the use of two types of paper and four color printing. one paper, a soft, rough press, was used with warm inks to reproduce the texture and color of the platinum prints. smoother, glossy paper and cooler inks, ranging from neutral black, to a slightly eggplant, and even mildly green were used to show the actual colors of the prints made on glossy papers. since each paper has different color characteristics, different inks were used to print the pages.

while most images are those seen in other books, there are a few gems not seen before, and the essays by dody weston thompson and sarah m. lowe are worth the read, covering both the artist and the collection itself. the reproductions are the best I have seen to date. while the publishers would like you to believe they are nearly identical to the originals, they are still offset pages, so don't hold your breath if you want to see what a weston print really looks like. but they are still the best prints in a book to date.

at $150, it is a pricey book, but if you like weston, this is the book to get, hands down.