Lot 115 (detail)
THE LIBRARY OF BILL DIODATO:
PHOTOBOOKS
LOTS 106-269
PROVOCATEURS & INNOVATORS
Photography begins with the birth of the photobook. Long before the white wall
or editioned print, and more than century before galleries and museums exhibited
pictures, photographers recognized the book as an art form and used it to
distribute, sequence and share their work. Although the experience of the book
is intimate and personal, photographers boldly employed it, insisting the world
take notice of photography’s powerful range of expression. The book serves as
a distinct representation of the maker’s unique sensibility and methodology.
Generally a small object, it nonetheless has a monumental and incomparable
purpose: to allow us to hold in our hands the visions of towering figures of
19th and 20th century photography.
Each of the books in Bill Diodato’s collection not only stands as an exceptional
example of the rare,-out-of-print title, but also serves as a distinct, vital entry
point into the perspective of the photographer. Here we see William Klein’s
freshly dynamic sequencing, Robert Frank’s revolutionary blending of observer
and interpreter, Alexey Brodovitch’s artful and kinetic designs, Henri Cartier-
Bresson’s careful 35mm eye, the expansive preoccupations of Andy Warhol’s
Factory, and the explosive world of the mid-century color photographers. We
watch history move, see our collective identity change, see the world reflected,
revolutionized, reexamined, and renewed. Here we see photography emerge as
powerful, necessary force in the world.
