George Tice: Urban Landscapes [Hardcover]

This book is a culmination of Tice's work on landscapes in one of the most urbanized areas in the world, New Jersey, lying between two great metropolises of NYC and Philadelphia. He epitomizes the artist who is able to find meaning and emotional content in even the most mundane subject. Locations that many of us would pass each day (and I have passed a number of the sites photgraphed) without a further thought are subjects of insightful photographs that show us something about a subject we may not have considered without the artist's insight. It is a simple matter to record a beautiful scene; quite another to portray the essence of a subject in a photograph in a manner that conveys its intrinsic worth. Much of Tice's work is, of course, already held by some of the most important museums in the world, and are well known to those who follow fine art photography. See, for instance, Strand Theater (page 33), White Castle (page 35), Oak Tree (page 47), and, of course, Petit's Mobil Station (page 67 and book cover). But many of the photographs are not as well known, and may not be quite as accessible. They are, nonetheless, well worth the effort to understand and appreciate. They span photographs of blue collar hangouts that evoke an immediate feeling of familiarity (e.g. St. George's Diner - page 71; Main Street Rahway, page 36), to the cool beauty of the Newark Bay seen from the Pulaski Skyway (page 90). The diversity of the photographs is stunning, as is their reproduction in duotone. Highly recommended!

I would have written this review some time ago if the publisher had been a bit more accurate with the book's title. I have the original 1975 edition and I always assumed this same titled edition was just a reprint until I noticed that it had 168 pages and the original had 112. So now I have most of photos in the original plus more photographed up to 1999 and nicely, this book is printed in 250 rather than the 150 screen of the first edition.

I've always preferred images of the man-made landscape with its visual vibrancy and George Tice has the eye to deliver. His street photos of commercial premises, signage and traffic in the gritty cities and towns of New Jersey (his birth State) provide plenty of eye-grabbing work throughout the book. For example: on pages 126 and 127 there are two streets in Atlantic and Jersey cities which are just stunning, the Jersey City one always reminds me of Walker Evans work in Reedsville, West Virginia in June 1935.

In the 1975 edition Tice says that 'Urban Landscapes' is an extension of his 1972 'Patterson' book. I haven't seen the original but I recently bought 'Patterson II', published in 2006 with photos taken from 2000 onwards and the contents are in the same style as his previous work. Incidentally, I think, 'Patterson II' an important book for a technical reason: the black and white photos are printed in six hundred screen which really is on the cutting edge of graphic reproduction and Tice's pin-sharp, detail saturated photos are the ideal subject for such quality printing. I just wonder if I had one of his prints and placed it next to the same printed photo in the book would the difference be immediately apparent?

I think 'Urban Landscapes' will become one of my favorite books and with Patterson II it's clear that George Tice has, over several decades, continued to take remarkable photos of American commonplace.

***FOR AN INSIDE LOOK click 'customer images' under the cover.

With a career spanning five decades, George Tice's unique vision and mastery of fine prints have made him one of the preeminent photographers of his generation. He has exhibited extensively in both the United States and abroad. His prints are in many museums including the Museum of Modern Art, the Art Institute of Chicago and the Metropolitan Museum, the latter at which he had a one-man show in 1972. Early in his career, he recognized the potential of the photography book as an art form. George Tice is the author of 16 books. His book, "Paterson" was awarded the Grand Prix du Festival d'Arles: Asher Neiman Gallery.

"It is the ordinary things that Tice photographs, things that you or I might not notice, although he approaches and records them with such loving care that the final images transcend their humble subject matter. They are also masterfully printed. The combination of grim earnestness and dreamy pathos is entirely true to life. This is New Jersey, after all."

- Benjamin Genocchio, of the NY Times

Mr. Tice is known to have said that "Urban Landscapes" is an extension of one of his preeminent master pieces, "Paterson", the book noted above which received the Grand Prix du Festival d'Arles. Those of us who understand what comprises good art, will agree. George's ability to take ordinary subject matter and transform it in such a way as to recognize it's importance, and show us, through his lovely crafted print with it's subtle this inherent beauty, requires a very delicate and razor sharp sensibility that few fine art photographers possess. Novices who are new to fine art photography, often expect to see some obviously spectacular event, scene, or object that the photographer sees, and decides to document and often arbitrarily compose, and if we're lucky, we see a technically decent print. Only a true Master can calmly take his time, as is George's method, take the world around him seriously, and through his legendary craftsmanship, known around the world, create an image of amazing quiet beauty. Urban Landscapes is a collection of such images. He makes the ordinary, extraordinary. Tice's work is very appropriate for young students of Art, who often need to learn that Art is less about the "subject" and more about the Treatment of the subject. That can be a difficult concept to teach, but one of the most important things Art students must learn.

Tice uses and has personally invented printing techniques that echo, to some extent techniques that legends such as Ansel Adams and Edward Weston used, but go farther, in terms of their subtle detail, and delicate beauty.

My first exposure to George Tice's work was in 1978, where in a photography class I picked up a copy of American Photographer magazine. Leafing through, I spotted a small strikingly beautiful image that stopped me cold. Even as a magazine reproduction, the image was stunning. The quality of the reproduction was more beautiful in general, and technically, than any fine art image I had seen to date.
Along with it was an article about George Tice, who, based on the image, I imagined as a white haired old Master, who, over oh so many years, had fine tuned his craft to the point of near perfection. Four years later, while working as a fine arts assistant at the Tahoe Photography Workshops, in Truckee, CA, I served as George's assistant during a one week workshop he taught there. He returned the next year, and I had the pleasure again. As an artist who has exhibited widely, including venues in Australia, and Turkey, I can say, as my students will attest, that George Tice was my greatest influence. I thought I knew how to print well, until I saw originals of his work, and learned the fundamentals of his printing technique, which I passed on from student to student for many years. One of the greatest things I learned from him was the need to be patient, and not to "settle". If the print wasn't perfect, even if the flaw is minor; do it again and fix it, and again, and again... His infinite patience with his demonstration prints was profound, and humbling; and his techniques, fascinating. He understood that to make the ordinary extraordinary, a beautiful print was needed to reveal the beauty that needed to be seen for the photograph to be successful. To fully appreciate a George Tice print, one needs to see the original. The latest printing of Urban Landscapes allows us, to at least approach the beauty of the original. The old Master I expected to meet back then was only 46, and now has become that old Master that I imagined when I saw that first magazine reproduction. "Urban Landscapes" is a treasure, and the price is right. Own a copy and enjoy....