Born 20 years after Groebli, Willy Spiller is another Zurich native, probably best known internationally for his colour photographs of the New York subway in the 1970s and 1980s when it was reputed to be one of the most dangerous places in the world. Published as Hell on Wheels, it’s out of print unfortunately and much sought after. His earlier photos in Zurich 1967-76, taken when he was in his twenties, have the same exuberant quality as his New York work: images of street life, cafes and bars, industry, protests and counter-culture. We will have signed copies. Sample images.

Chose Commune had been working with the great Japanese photographer Issei Suda on a new book shortly before his death in March 2019. The resulting 78 had to be completed after his death. It presents a selection of unseen photographs from the Suda archive. Shot between 1971 and 1983, these photographs have never been published before. The majority are of adults, children and animals in the streets of Tokyo. See our webpage for sample images. 

Next two titles from the excellent Another Place Press. Undertow documents the changing relationship between an islander and her home, as Frances Scott walks the coastlines of Orkney. The Mainland took her two years to complete; the rest may take a lifetime. The black-and-white images are of ‘unspoilt’ land- and sea-scapes and of the many human artefacts that have left their mark. Sample images.

Suicide Machine is APP’s second title by Dan Wood. A native and resident of Bridgend in South Wales, Wood wanted to investigate the town’s reputation for a high level of suicides, especially among young people. The colour streetscapes and environmental portraits suggest the potential for hope and pride amid the deprivations of small-town life. Sample images.

Starting the day on which the UK voted to leave the European Union, Mark Neville’ Parade was photographed over a three year period, within a 30km radius of the town of Guingamp in Brittany – renowned across France for the local football team’s giant-killing feats. The suggestion of a small-town idyll stands in stark contrast to Wood’s depiction of Bridgend, though perhaps the artifice of Neville's portraits calls that suggestion into question. (There’s also a dog sitting happily on top of a pony!) Sample images.

Nomenklatura of Signs is the first proper publication of a series of images created by Alexey Titarenko in the 1980s deconstructing the iconography of Soviet culture and propaganda, suggesting its imminent demise. These striking works were clearly inspired by the avantgarde Russian artists of an earlier time such as Malevich and Rodchenko. Sample images.

Phaidon will shortly be bringing out a new edition of American Surfaces, one of Stephen Shore’s most significant works. Its use of colour film to document “the extraordinary in the ordinary” has been an enormous influence of subsequent generations of photographers. This new edition comes with additional images and a new introduction. See our webpage for sample images. 

In a recent newsletter we wrote about Mack’s recent publication of Shore’s Transparencies. At the time, it wasn’t clear if we were going to be able to get signed stock. Now I can confirm that we will be getting signed copies – unfortunately these will not be available till late May. If you don’t want to wait till then, unsigned copies are available now. 

Ansel Adams is famous for his dramatic photographs of the American West. Although many of Adams’s images are now iconic, his early work has remained largely unknown. In Making a Photographer: the early work, Rebecca A. Senf argues that these early photographs are crucial to understanding Adams’s artistic development and offer new insights into many aspects of the artist’s mature output.