William Ropp - 20 years of photography (MINT CONDITION, SHRINK-WRAPPED) - 2009

WONDERFUL WORK OVERVIEW by French photographer William Ropp.

The book "William Ropp 20 years of Photography" was published on the occasion of the artist's retrospective exhibition at the "Musee de la Photography" in Belgium and at the "Maison Européennne de la Photographie" in Paris.

TRUE FIRST ENGLISH PRINTING (there was also a French edition of the same title with a different cover).

New, mint, unread; still originally shrink-wrapped in publisher's plastic foil
COLLECTOR'S COPY.

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"William Ropp’s genius is that he brings the unexpected truth to every subject, and every subject he undertakes is a major one. We’ve known the figures in his photographs for millennia – in our collective unconscious, in dreams, in the face of gods, in fears, temptations, and lusts. They are fundamental and ageless, and they still dominate, torment, and occasionally delight our lives, but we seldom see them in contemporary art. Many of today’s artists have banished or trivialized these subjects and, in effect, turned their backs on us. Life is often beastly, and art can be solace. In giving us the unexpected truth, William Ropp also gives us a revivifying truth. We leave the experience of his work with no false comfort, but the knowledge that our fears are not unique but part of humanity’s ageless, repeating drama. And that has always been the gift of great art."
- from the foreword by Prof. John Wood -

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Edition Galerie Vevais, Vevais. 2009. First edition, first printing.

Hardcover (as issued). 246 x 306 mm. 160 pages. 122 photos. Photos: William Ropp. Graphic design: Barends & Pijnappel. Visual editor: Henrik Barends, Antwerp, Belgium. Editors: Alexander Scholz, Vevais, Germany and Anneke Pijnappel, Antwerp, Belgium. Binding: Jansenbinders, Leiden, Netherlands. Lithography: Drukkerij slinger, Almaar, Netherlands. Text: William Ropp. Introduction: John Wood. Text in English.

Great photobook by William Ropp - in perfect condition.

"William Ropp, known as the "shadow sculptor", has a unique style of portraiture. Ropp often has his subjects photographed in complete darkness, using long exposures and a 50-year-old Czech flashlight for dramatic lighting effects. He awakens the "soul" of his sitters while making his psychological portraits, which are haunting, emotional and humanistic portraits.
In 1988, Ropp produced his first series of black-and-white photographs: these were images of human figures reflected in distorting mirrors. Ropp continued to work with the human body in the studio, experimenting with lighting and photographic technology. In the early 90s, he found the style that would make him famous. Ropp immerses figures of models, who astound the viewer with the complexity of their intricate postures, into darkness and "paints" their body outlines with a bright beam of light. He would increase the shutter speed to 10 minutes to make the image a little blurrier, but focus attention on the essentials: the eyes, the facial expression, the shoulder line or the expressive curve of the arm."
(Galerie STP)

"William Ropp was born in 1960 and lives in Nancy. He began his career in the theatre, co-founding the « Théâtre X » company. In 1988, he took a highly successful series of black and white photographs of human figures reflected in distorting mirrors. Several books followed. In 1993, he became interested in uncontrolled postures, plunging his subjects into darkness in a studio and ‘painting’ their outlines with a beam of light, the intrusion of light creating accidents of form. In 2007, he took a complete break from studio work and produced a powerfully dreamlike series of photographs of children in Africa.The book « Dreamt memories from Africa » followed. He then became a teacher, running workshops all around the world and elsewhere. He began working with colour in 2010, revisiting the same themes and taking inspiration from classical paintings. In 2012 The Musee de la Photography in Belgium and the Maison Européennne de la Photographie in Paris organized jointly a succesful rétrospective exhibition
The book "William Ropp 20 years of Photography" was launched for this occasion. Today, his works form part of some of the greatest public collections."
(website of the artist)

"William Ropp was born in Versailles, France, in 1960. He is an autodidact. His work has featured in over one hundred solo and numerous group exhibitions across Europe and also in Asia, Oceania, and the Americas. His photographs are held in many prestigious public and private collections including the Musée de la Photographie Charleroi (Belgium), the Museet for Fotokunst, Odense (Denmark), the Maison Européenne pour la Photographie, Paris (France), the Musée de l’Elysée, Lausanne (Switzerland), and in the USA, Houston Museum of Fine Art, and New York Public Library. In 1997 he won the premier prize at the Sixth European Polaroid Art Awards."
(The Photo Gallery)