I have a couple of these but forgot to ask William Claxton to sign them.
This would have suited him better than the very heavy copy of the book he signed!
He had a bit of a trouble lifting it and opening it to the first page to sign my copy!
The book is quite astonishing. One of the very best jazz photos book ever!
←
Of course the flyer comment was a joke referring back to the various JiP collectibles we were talking about a while back ("mine's bigger/rarer than yours", kind of thing).
I got my girlfriend to get the flyer (it's actually a heavy cardboard card) signed by Claxton at the Frankfurt Book Fair on Sunday so I can put that into my rather torn first edition of the book.
Today I spent quite some time studying the new book and without trying to be the party pooper here, frankly I was more disappointed than anything. Sure, it's a stunning book, but I expected more than what's in there. Moreover, some of the images are overly grainy, blown up to the size they are (and yes, I know they were supposed to be grainy in the first place). I'd rather get the huge Kubrick tome, especially since most of what's in there is new for me whereas the Claxton book I know inside out.
Now just imagine they would have turned that one into a complete jazz photography of ... kind of book. There would certainly have been enough space for that. This way I think it's just another one of the by now many half-hearted Taschen Books, a reprint which didn't demand all that much editorial effort.
Sorry, but that was my first impression.
←
Party Pooper!...........I'll get it anyway!
←
Me too.