SIGNED; Lewis Baltz - San Quentin Point [ FIRST ED. ] - 1986

Extremely rare signed first edition copy by Lewis Baltz (1945 – 2014), almost impossible to find signed online, original edition published in France. 136 pages and 58 full-page photographic plates printed on recto only, text in English, French, and German by Mark Haworth-Booth. Very fine black toiled binding, with SQP title stamped in blind on the cover and the full title on the back, the first illustrated dust jacket but without a title as the title appears thanks to a second transparent plastic dust jacket which itself is titled. All in excellent condition.

Nota bene: This edition published by Editions de la Différence was produced with the same printing as the Aperture edition, both printed in Germany at the same time on July 21, 1986 (the two editions are trilingual and only the title page with the editor’s name differs). Indeed, as Parr & Badger note, “Baltz and Gossage taught their art in Berlin and were exhibited there; their books published by Aperture were even edited and printed in Germany” (Photobokk vol. II p. 14 and p. 55).

The photographs gathered by Lewis Baltz at San Quentin Point depict empty, abandoned areas strewn with debris and refuse. This work presents an uncompromising view of the environmental consequences of industrial development and a consumer society. In contrast to the sublime, these entropic spaces echo scientific progress.

Lewis Baltz confides to us: “I was born, said Lewis Baltz, in a region whose urbanization was the fastest in the world, Southern California, in the postwar period. Things changed before our eyes; it was astonishing. A world was being born, probably not a very pleasant world, but a world that was this new American environment, homogenized, spreading across the country, and soon to be exported everywhere…”

“What is remarkable still is the photographer’s interest in abandoned soils, or more precisely, ‘just abandoned,’ when the vegetation has not yet re-established itself and there remain even some remnants of the space once occupied

Finally, Lewis Baltz shows us sites ‘emptied’ by man; he lets us look at them while subtly suggesting that nature never finishes anything and that it remains capable of rebuilding the destroyed landscape” [unless it becomes a built space] (https://zonefranche.media/question-paysage-vue-lewis-baltz-3627)

Book from my personal collection, in excellent condition with only minimal wear to the edge of the paper dust jacket (see photo), book kept with the utmost care. Shipping protected very effectively and international tracked mail guaranteed. In case of multiple purchases, possibility of combined shipping with refund of any excess postage paid via PayPal.

1.350 kg excluding packaging