a new book and exhibition from William Clift

[Oren Grad]

William Clift has just published a new book, "Mont St Michel and Shiprock", with 132 pictures made over the period 1973-2010. I received my copy today. Some of the pictures have previously been published elsewhere, but many of them are new to me.

http://www.williamclift.com/

He will also be exhibiting on this theme in 2013, first at the Phoenix Art Museum (announcement not yet up) and then at the New Mexico Museum of Art in Santa Fe.

http://www.nmartmuseum.org/site/expl...iam-clift.html

[Kirk Gittings]

Sweet-one of my favorite all time photographers.

[frotog]

Excellent. Thanks for posting. To my mind one of just a few straight-ahead landscape photographers who've managed to work outside of Ansel's picturesque shadow. His brother was a pretty good actor too!

[Peter Lewin]

Excellent. Thanks for posting. To my mind one of just a few straight-ahead landscape photographers who've managed to work outside of Ansel's picturesque shadow. His brother was a pretty good actor too!

First, thanks, Oren, for the heads-up. I have both of Clift's earlier books, and he is definitely one of my favorite photographers. I'll have to put the newest book on my "for myself" holiday list!

But for frotog, you've got my curiosity about William Clift's family tree. The photographer was born in 1944, the actor (Montgomery Clift) in 1920, which seems a big spread for brothers. On the other hand, the photographer's full name is William Brooks Clift, which is the same name as Montgomery Clift's father, and Montgomery had a brother named William Brooks Clift Jr., but the brother was older than Montgomery, not 24 years younger... I haven't been able to find much on-line, although the similarity in names cannot be coincidental. Can you or anyone fill in the blanks?

[frotog]

Peter, thanks for your sleuthing. A museum curator told me of the family relation a while back. Your research most likely suggests that the photographer Clift is the son of the actor's older brother.

[Kerik Kouklis]

Love his work. I have Certain Places. The new book sounds great.

[Kirk Gittings]

Peter, thanks for your sleuthing. A museum curator told me of the family relation a while back. Your research most likely suggests that the photographer Clift is the son of the actor's older brother.

Yes I know him a bit. MC was his uncle if I remember right.

[Eric Biggerstaff]

Great news and I will be getting it, I have all of his others.

I knew this was coming from a correspondence we had a year or so ago, so I am very excited!

He is one of my all time favorites.

[Peter Lewin]

First, let me reiterate that Mr. Clift is one of my very favorite photographers, and I do have both Certain Places and A Hudson Landscape, but am I the only one who thinks that $25 shipping fee on top of a $125 book is a bit steep? I know I will have to get over it, since I really do want the book (and like to support Clift's work) but given domestic book mail costs, my initial reaction was negative (not to the book price, where the photographer can set the price wherever he or she wants, but to the shipping charges).

[frotog]

Peter, I can sympathize.

I plan to experience the book on loan, from my local library's inter-library loan system. These days I can't justify collecting stuff that's dear - what might one hope to accomplish by actually owning this stuff? Eventual resale once it becomes even more collectible?

I'm still in the process of a massive deaccession of photo books - some of which have become quite collectible. I realized that I've internalized the pleasure of viewing the images from multiple viewings and that the real pleasure lies there, not in the knowledge that I own the book. And with the inter-library loan system I can rest assured that if I do feel the need to revisit books (even rare, out-of-print titles), I can. It's incredibly liberating to get rid of all these treasures and at the same time support an endangered local institution - the public library.