Signed; William Klein - New York - 1995

Rarest signed and inscribed copy by William Klein with the handwritten annotation “Happy New York” (there is only one other signed copy on the internet at nearly €3,000!). The edition offered here includes numerous images that seem to be unpublished and benefits from a very high-quality print run considering the advances made in printing techniques over 40 years, produced from the original negatives. The edition also features a very large format that allows for double-page spreads of 35 cm by 50 cm. Solid hard cover with title embossed and a titled dust jacket. In excellent condition, nearly mint;

This new French edition, published to accompany the exhibition New York 1954-55 presented at the Maison Européenne de la Photographie from September 24 to November 17, 1996, as part of the Mois de la Photo in Paris, comprises 256 pages and 188 black-and-white photographs. First published in 1956, New York remains William Klein’s flagship work, which overturned the conventions of photography. A blend of composition rules, shots taken from above and below, artistic blur, strong contrasts, accidental framing: all that was previously considered an “error” becomes aesthetic here, serving a brutal and poetic vision of the city. Klein, who had just left New York for Paris, returned to photograph his hometown and produced a chaotic, ironic, and dazzling portrait, featuring street children, anonymous crowds, graffiti, intrusive advertisements, and close-up faces. This book, “atomic” in the critics’ terms of the time, marks a decisive break in the history of 20th-century photography and will influence an entire generation of artists. The 1955 edition is listed in Parr & Badger’s The Photobook, vol. I p. 243, as well as in Auer 802 photobooks from the M. + M. Auer collection p. 365, The Open Book from Hasselblad Center p. 165-166, Andrew Roth, The Book of 801 Books, seminal photographic books of the Twentieth Century p. 140 to 143.

Book from my personal collection, in excellent condition, nearly mint, kept with the greatest care. Very effective protected shipping and international tracked postal service guaranteed. In case of multiple purchases, possible group shipment with reimbursement of excess postage paid via Paypal.

2.4 kg before packaging