cover image The Last Roll

The Last Roll

Jeff Jacobson. Daylight (www.daylightbooks.org), $39.95 (116p) ISBN 978-0-9832316-7-7

The fates of both a photographer and his film coincide in this introspective third monograph from Jacobson (Melting Point). Diagnosed with lymphoma in 2004, the photojournalist was confined to the immediate vicinity of his home in New York’s Catskills, where he launched into a new series of photos. Five years later, as his strength returned, Kodak canceled production of Kodachrome, the film that Jacobson had been using for 35 years. Taken with his last rolls of Kodachrome, this intensely personal series, which includes a poem by his wife, Marnie Andrews, explores the ephemeral in life and art. Bleary, lush, and delicate, it’s as though each photograph documents an ill-defined moment spontaneously and affectionately remembered: table knives glow under a bright red light at a California diner; a candle burns softly in a dark window; cranes seen through a web of branches pass against a pale sky; vague shapes of deer scatter in an electric flood of headlights; a girl sits alone, casting a long shadow across a sunny lawn. Often underexposed or simply obscure, the subjects appear to be dematerializing and evoke a rich emotional history. Jacobson’s photos convey the sensation of opening your eyes for the first, and perhaps the last, time. 50 color photos. (Apr.)