William Klein: ABC

This inclusive overview of Klein's career as a photographer, filmmaker, and painter celebrates the pioneering artist for his unconventional methods and their lasting influence on the genres he helped form. The bulk of the book consists of images culled from his long career, including selections from his photo-book Life is Good and Good for You in New York (winner of the 1956 Prix Nadar) and similar projects on Tokyo, Moscow, and Paris, as well as images from his satirical and documentary films and fashion photography. Klein selected the images himself and they demonstrate a consistency of style and technique, collapsing decades of work into a familiar and singular points of reference. A formative photographer in several genres, Klein's move into the medium from his training as a painter resulted in work that bucked the trends and techniques of his early decades, and David Campany's brief opening essay positions him as an artist who is equally of his time and willing to transcend it. The book's lasting value lies in the opportunity to see Klein himself scanning decades of work and selecting images that still resonate with him today%E2%80%94a project that offers incisive glimpses into both his photography and the culture that bore it. Color images. (Mar)