Nothing Personal

Photographs by Richard Avedon. Text by James Baldwin.

Penguin Books. London. 1964. First edition. British edition. Hardback; white glossy boards, title to spine and silver square with titles to boards, matching slipcase. [92 pages.] 54 b&w photographs, including 2 folding-plates. English. 380 x 280mm. 1.75kg. . Near fine, in very good slipcase; occasional small mark to boards; slipcase has slight wear and soiling, with some wear to spine ends and corners; a very nice copy of a notoriously fragile book.

A first edition of Avedon's classic photobook depicting 1950s America. In Nothing Personal Avedon moves away from the glitz of fashion photography and presents a series of political portraits documenting the power and the weaknesses of mid-century USA.  Portraits of Billy Graham, Allen Ginsberg, Dwight David Eisenhower, Brother Malcom X, Arthur Miller, Marilyn Monroe, Bertrand Russell, sit alongside William Casby, a black man born into slavery, Members of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, and a series of images of inmates in an psychiatric asylum. The complementary text is provided by Avedon's high school friend, James Baldwin. Book design by Marvin Israel.
[Parr& Badger. The Photobook Volume I. p.252; Auer. 802 Photo Books. p.435]