“THE SKILLED PHOTOGRAPHER SELECTS THE SIGNIFICANT MOMENT”: ARTHUR ROTHSTEIN’S WORDS AND PICTURES

ROTHSTEIN, Arthur. Words & Pictures. New York: Amphoto, (1979). Quarto, original stiff photographic wrappers. $250.

First edition, issue in wrappers, of this Rothstein retrospective, presenting 96 of his most memorable black-and-white photographs, from the collection of award-winning photojournalist Peter Turnley.

The first photographer hired for the Historical Section of the Farm Security Administration, “Rothstein made an important contribution to the archives of American photography with [his] memorable Depression-era images… He once said that he considered his FSA work not as art but as a tool of social change. Today his work is considered both” (McDarrah & McDarrah, 392-93). This collection showcases not only Rothstein’s FSA work (including his iconic—and, at the time, controversial—1936 image of a steer skull in the South Dakota badlands) but also his portraits of such notable people as George Washington Carver, Eleanor Roosevelt, Mary Martin and Fulton Sheen, his depictions of peasant life in China and his striking studies of athletes in motion. Issued simultaneously in hardcover. From the collection of Peter Turnley, acclaimed photojournalist for Newsweek, Life and Harper’s Magazine, who has covered “almost every important international news event of the last 15 years” (New York Times). With Turnley’s owner signature.

Wrappers slightly soiled, price sticker residue to front wrapper. An extremely good copy.