Okay it’s been four years since my last blog post about Arcana Books in Culver City, the West Coast’s best fine art photo bookstore hands down, so time for another one. Their title selection is incredible, and every staff member has a passion for what they do. When (not if) you visit you need to explore first, especially the showcased titles by the entry, then you need to pull a staff member aside and ask them for suggestions. When I was up there to get my copy of Ave Pildas’s “Star Struck” I did just that and was pointed towards two solid new additions to my library.
Baldwin Lee’s new book was on display just inside the front doors and it immediately caught my eye. When I talked with a staff member, he also pointed it out and explained how fast this edition is selling so I it was the first book I added to my purchase stack - I got one of their last copies. The book contains 88 images from a 10,000-image archive of photographs of the American South between 1983 and 1989 by photographer Baldwin Lee. Printed and bound in Italy by Hunters Point Press in Long Island, this book is amazing. It is one of the most beautifully printed books I have seen. The Black and White photographs are amazing and all of them are powerful images in their own right. I am a fan of Baldwin Lee after picking up this book.
“The Newyorker” Article Link on Baldwin Lee
The staff pointed out Gregory Bojorquez’s “East Siders” next which I was familiar after seeing his work up at Little Big Man Gallery who published this book; this is the second printing of East Siders with this edition limited to 555 copies. Bojorquez’s photographs are awesome. His body of work is one of the most complete documents of East LA life in the 1990’s that there is. Bojorquez lived it, he knew it, and he hung out in it. All his images are credible and pure. Having worked in areas like this I appreciate how he captured so many simple details of that world. Things many people wouldn’t pick up on unless they had been there. I also love the included folded poster that gave details on each image like the “Who”, “Where”, “When”, and sometimes the “Why”. With Documentary images the more information I can have the better.
I also picked up two smaller books. “Animal Antics” by Ave Pildas and “Walk Don’t Run” by Fox Galvan. I was there to support Ave so adding a second book of his made sense. I like this one, and absolutely loved one of the images titled “Hudson”, of a small Chihuahua on cemetery plot in New Orleans. Galvan’s book is very simple, but design and quality of it is perfect for the subject matter, street skateboarders.
