cover image Woman: A Celebration

Woman: A Celebration

. Chronicle Books, $22.95 (120pp) ISBN 978-0-8118-4098-9

California fine art photography dealer Fetterman presents a stunning array of images in this tribute to women of all ages, races, classes and eras. A mix of b&w and sepia-toned photographs, the collection features work by artists from Henri Cartier-Bresson and Eadweard Muybridge to Graciela Iturbide and Lisette Model. Some of the photos are playful, such as Kurt Hutton's 1938 Fun Fair, which portrays a bubbly blonde laughing as her skirt flies up on a roller coaster ride, while others are excruciatingly sad, like Constantine Manos's 1966 image of a woman crying at the funeral of her nephew, who was killed in Vietnam. Over 100 photos address such issues as motherhood, romance and repression, and feature subjects that range from Paris bakers to movie stars. Marvelously sparse (each photo is accompanied by only a title, year and photographer name), this collection is a moving homage to women everywhere.