THE WHITE ALBUM OF THE HAMPTONS PHOTOGRAPHS Christophe von Hohenberg
Foreword Jay McInerney
For Raul and Raulito Castells
First published in 2020 by
Foreword
Glitterati Editions
Blinded by the Light:
311 West 43 Street Floor 12 New York, NY 10036 Telephone: 646-584-6382 www.GlitteratiEditions.com media@GlitteratiEditions.com for inquiries Copyright Š 2020 by Christophe von Hohenberg All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review.
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Channeling the Unseen World The Photographs About the Artist
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About the Foreword Writer
First edition, 2020 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication data is available from the publisher. Hardcover edition ISBN: 978-1-943876-14-3 Printed and bound in China 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 All images in this project were overexposed with TX 400 Black and White Film shot with a Nikon F3 and a 24 mm lens.
Acknowledgments
103
101
15
For Raul and Raulito Castells
First published in 2020 by
Foreword
Glitterati Editions
Blinded by the Light:
311 West 43 Street Floor 12 New York, NY 10036 Telephone: 646-584-6382 www.GlitteratiEditions.com media@GlitteratiEditions.com for inquiries Copyright Š 2020 by Christophe von Hohenberg All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review.
9
Channeling the Unseen World The Photographs About the Artist
19
97
About the Foreword Writer
First edition, 2020 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication data is available from the publisher. Hardcover edition ISBN: 978-1-943876-14-3 Printed and bound in China 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 All images in this project were overexposed with TX 400 Black and White Film shot with a Nikon F3 and a 24 mm lens.
Acknowledgments
103
101
15
FOR EWOR D Christophe von Hohenberg has made a name for himself as one of the most celebrated photographers of his generation with a body of work exhibiting a distinctive urban sensibility. He is probably best known for his portraits of New York personalities—of artists, writers, fashionistas, and heiresses and men about town. Since the early eighties, he has created a kind of collective portrait of Manhattan’s beau monde; his best known book documented the mourners at Andy Warhol’s memorial in 1987—a who’s who of fashionable New York. More recently he has turned
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FOR EWOR D Christophe von Hohenberg has made a name for himself as one of the most celebrated photographers of his generation with a body of work exhibiting a distinctive urban sensibility. He is probably best known for his portraits of New York personalities—of artists, writers, fashionistas, and heiresses and men about town. Since the early eighties, he has created a kind of collective portrait of Manhattan’s beau monde; his best known book documented the mourners at Andy Warhol’s memorial in 1987—a who’s who of fashionable New York. More recently he has turned
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his eye on the faces and the architecture of Mexico City, where he spends part of his year. This latest book represents a surprising and stunning departure from this previous body of work, at least stylistically, although there is a certain sense in which it represents an extension of his interest in New York as a subject. The beaches of the Hamptons are the summertime refuge of fashionable New Yorkers—and of generations of artists from William Merritt Chase to Eric Fischl, who have been attracted to the landscape and the marine-inflected light. Von Hohenberg joins the ranks of those artists with these luminous photographs of the beaches of the Hamptons. The ghostly figures on the sand, silhouetted against the surf and the sky, might be famous
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his eye on the faces and the architecture of Mexico City, where he spends part of his year. This latest book represents a surprising and stunning departure from this previous body of work, at least stylistically, although there is a certain sense in which it represents an extension of his interest in New York as a subject. The beaches of the Hamptons are the summertime refuge of fashionable New Yorkers—and of generations of artists from William Merritt Chase to Eric Fischl, who have been attracted to the landscape and the marine-inflected light. Von Hohenberg joins the ranks of those artists with these luminous photographs of the beaches of the Hamptons. The ghostly figures on the sand, silhouetted against the surf and the sky, might be famous
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New Yorkers, but their individuating characteristics have been bleached away by the sun and the figurative squint of the observer. (Although curiously, the dogs seem to have personalities.) The humans have become anonymous and diminished against the overwhelming backdrop of the ocean. These images are by turns soothing and haunting and yet somehow familiar. Von Hohenberg has discovered a perspective that was in front of us all along, which we couldn’t quite isolate until he presented it to us. Jay McInerney
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New Yorkers, but their individuating characteristics have been bleached away by the sun and the figurative squint of the observer. (Although curiously, the dogs seem to have personalities.) The humans have become anonymous and diminished against the overwhelming backdrop of the ocean. These images are by turns soothing and haunting and yet somehow familiar. Von Hohenberg has discovered a perspective that was in front of us all along, which we couldn’t quite isolate until he presented it to us. Jay McInerney
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TH E PHOTOG RAPHS
TH E PHOTOG RAPHS
About the Artist Born in Oyster Bay, Long Island, photographer and author Christophe von Hohenberg was brought up in Southampton, New York; Neubeuern, Germany; St. Croix, Virgin Islands; and New York City. After traveling extensively in Europe and attending universities in Germany, Spain, and France, Christophe von Hohenberg graduated from Schiller International University, Paris Campus, in 1975, where he studied liberal arts, literature, art history, and philosophy. Afterwards, he began his professional photography career, freelancing with Guy Bourdin, Frank Moscati, Bob Stone, and Peter Castellano. Von Hohenberg has photographed for American Vogue, Interview with Marc Balet, Vanity
Fair with Elisabeth Biondi, German Vogue with Rados Protic, French Vogue with Jocelyn Kargere, and advertising campaigns
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About the Artist Born in Oyster Bay, Long Island, photographer and author Christophe von Hohenberg was brought up in Southampton, New York; Neubeuern, Germany; St. Croix, Virgin Islands; and New York City. After traveling extensively in Europe and attending universities in Germany, Spain, and France, Christophe von Hohenberg graduated from Schiller International University, Paris Campus, in 1975, where he studied liberal arts, literature, art history, and philosophy. Afterwards, he began his professional photography career, freelancing with Guy Bourdin, Frank Moscati, Bob Stone, and Peter Castellano. Von Hohenberg has photographed for American Vogue, Interview with Marc Balet, Vanity
Fair with Elisabeth Biondi, German Vogue with Rados Protic, French Vogue with Jocelyn Kargere, and advertising campaigns
97
“ These images are by turns soothing, and haunting and yet somehow familiar. Von Hohenberg has discovered a perspective that was in front of us all along, which we couldn’t quite isolate until he presented it to us.” —Jay McInerney, from the Foreword Christophe von Hohenberg captures in this delicately gorgeous book the peaceful essence of the idyllic beaches of the Hamptons, with sylphlike figures silhouetted against the glaring sun. His vision comes to life, perfectly translating the iconic shores of the Hampton beaches and the harmony of nature and man, in this unique vision captured in black-and-white photographs.
“ A writer translates words into images and feelings. A photographer translates images into words and feelings.” —Christophe von Hohenberg “In photography you have to be quick, quick, quick, quick...like an animal and it’s prey.” —Henri Cartier-Bresson “ To me photography is an art of observation. It is about finding something interesting in an ordinary place. I’ve found it has little to do with the things you see and everything to do with the way you see them.” —Elliott Erwitt “ No great artist ever sees things as they really are, if he did, he would cease to be an artist.” —Oscar Wilde SPECIFICATIONS: The White Album of the Hamptons | Christophe von Hohenberg Art/Photography | March 2020 Release | $50 | 104 pages 11x 8½ inches landscape | Hardcover with acetate jacket | Silkscreened edges
$50.00 ISBN 978-1-943876-14-3
55000>
and ribbon marker | 40 black and white images | ISBN: 978-1-943876-14-3 Published by Glitterati Editions www.glitteratieditions.com Printed and bound in China
9 781943 876143