a chance meeting in a bookstore
I met Gus Blaisdell about thirty years ago – a chance meeting in a bookstore. I was photographing on my first cross-country road trip and I landed in Albuquerque at The Living Batch. Gus showed me Park City by Lewis Baltz. What he didn’t mention is that he wrote the essay for the book – one of the most brilliant essays I’ve ever read about photography and art.
Park City (and a few other influential books) heralded a seismic shift in photography. This astonishing work, which came to be known as the New Topographics, allowed us to view the landscape with a new sense of passion, longing, and dread. The style continues to be widely emulated, letting some of us forget the vitality and authority of the original images.
Photos courtesy of Janice Schmitz, Christopher Koller and Adrienne Salinger
GBC BOOKS can be ordered from Jerry Lane at THE BOOK STOP 505-268-8898 or email geraldlane2405@comcast.net
Reblogged this on MaherMatters and commented:
Cheers to Nicole Blaisdell Ivey on her published tribute to her father! Wonderful to see old friends and family in the slide show. The book may be ordered from University of New Mexico Press.
great photo shots, very nice event and congratulations to all who put gus’s major critical works together . . . thanks to jerry lane and his incredible book stop for hosting . . . good to see old friends & acquaintances too . . .