Ex Libris: Ralph Gibson Photographs

by Ralph Gibson (Photographer)

In this, Ralph Gibson’s 30th monograph, books themselves have become objects of fascination, examination, and veneration. From the early days of ancient Roman stone carvings to the revolutionary printing of the Gutenberg Bible through today’s explosion of information on the Internet, Ex Libris chronicles the written record, offering a new interpretation of the signs, letter forms, shapes, and images used to document human history. Features images from the world’s greatest book collections and libraries, including the Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris; the British Museum; the New York Public Library; the Pierpont Morgan Library; and the Cairo Museum.

Genres: Photography, Collections

144 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 2001

Reviews

[Johns · Rating 4 out of 5]

This work published about twenty years after his first book shows Ralph Gibson's maturation in his chosen craft. All black & white photographs herein. Each page "converses" with the photo on the opposite page and taken together, leaves a memorable impression. I'm glad to have added this to our library.

[Andrew · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is a tourist's look at the languages and fonts of the world. No depth at all. You get an Egyptian hieroglyph (wow! so weird!) next to the map of a small French village with French words on it. Ugh.

The more you see of this guy's work, the more you realize how he reuses the same images multiple times and to deflating ends.

The photo on p. 93 is a macro of a wall of right-angled barb-wire like extrusions that I could continue to look at longer if it wasn't in the context of such an empty vision.