- Paperback: 208 pages
- Publisher: Phaidon Press Ltd (1 Oct 2003)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0714843318
- ISBN-13: 978-0714843315
- Product Dimensions: 33.6 x 26.8 x 2.6 cm
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 406,188 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- See Complete Table of Contents
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Product Description
Review
'...a poignant tribute to Harlem's energy during the late 1950s and early 60s. This is a stunning, emotive and vibrant account of America's musical renaissance period.'
Product Description
A photographic portrait of the world of jazz music. Presented as a stream of 196 images interspersed with DeCarava's own poetry, this volume is, in its form and overall effect, a printed equivalent of jazz -composed of overlapping passages of pain, sweetness, optimism and suffering. Roy DeCarava has documented the people, both famous and anonymous, and the seemingly mundane yet intimate moments of his Harlem neighbours and neighbourhood. The result is at once a work for photography enthusiasts, an historic documentation for jazz lovers, and a profound message to African-Americans as well as Whites that artistic talent knows no boundaries of race.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
Format:Paperback
This book is an excellent book for both the ageing jazz fan like myself and likewise for all photographers as the B&W images are superb. Which also applies to the subject taken from a jazz lovers point of view. peter
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
3 reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
5/5
31 Mar 2002
Format:Hardcover
For nearly forty years, a masterwork of photography has sat in obscurity, discussed only by aficionados of photography in reverential tones. It's a work that captures the essence of jazz, the spirit of Renaissance Harlem, and the beauty and simplicity of life. That book is The Sound I Saw, and it is available, finally, now.
Created as a prototype by the photographer Roy DeCarava, best-known for his 1955 collaboration with poet Langston Hughes on The Sweet Flypaper of Life, The Sound I Saw is a series of nearly two hundred black-and-white images of Harlem during a time when jazz exemplified the pulse of a city, and most particularly, a neighborhood. The photographs come in no particular order; and they are threaded along by DeCarava's disarming and evocative poetry. It's apparent that DeCarava was trying to capture in print the spirit and essence of jazz, and in this effort he is eminently successful.
Created as a prototype by the photographer Roy DeCarava, best-known for his 1955 collaboration with poet Langston Hughes on The Sweet Flypaper of Life, The Sound I Saw is a series of nearly two hundred black-and-white images of Harlem during a time when jazz exemplified the pulse of a city, and most particularly, a neighborhood. The photographs come in no particular order; and they are threaded along by DeCarava's disarming and evocative poetry. It's apparent that DeCarava was trying to capture in print the spirit and essence of jazz, and in this effort he is eminently successful.
What's important to note is that DeCarava doesn't try to impress a certain point of view on us; on the contrary, his photographic style is so unobtrusive that it makes you forget you're looking at a photograph of an empty street or a group of musicians working out an arrangement. DeCarava wants you to feel as if you've ended up on that street, or perhaps you've taken a wrong turn and stumbled into a rehearsal area backstage. He has a profound appreciation for those delicious moments of solitary discovery, and wants you to experience them as well.
His poetry has the same effect - it doesn't so much paint a picture as try to describe a feeling. It's never flighty or filled with hyperbole; it simply tries to describe the essence of the images it accompanies. We become privy to DeCarava's thoughts without being assaulted by his opinions. You get the impression that DeCarava isn't trying to put forth a certain point of view; he simply wants you stumble in on his ideas the way you would his images, and take away with you whatever speaks to you. As a result, The Sound I Saw achieves an exquisite goal of meaning something different to everyone who reads it.
Perhaps what's most striking about these photos is their utter lack of artifice. One of the plagues of modern photography is the heavy reliance of many photographers upon artifice and alteration in their images; with the exception of photojournalists, it's hard to think of many contemporary photographers who don't rely on heavily staged and contrived shots, props or artificial enhancement of their images in order to achieve a visual and emotional impact. DeCarava achieves a sublime and visceral beauty without any of these. He's succeeded in capturing images with the beauty of pure art but the uncomplicated honesty of photojournalism, and in doing so, has created one of the finest works of photography of our time.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Subject: jazz musicians; Theme people and light
13 Nov 2001
Format:Hardcover
A beautiful sensitivity to emotions in motion is mixed with a personal views of musicians lives. The book as a whole displays a counterpoint of visual narrative that brings warmth to the black and white photos. Running, walking, playing, resting jazz people seen with gritty light over years of being there bring power to Roy Decarava's journal. No technical scales of gray or precision of silver sunsets, this is a story book of and about people living jazz.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
The Best of Black & White
18 Dec 2001
Format:Hardcover
Roy DeCarava captures the soul of a time gone by - all in available light and black & white!! His images have more emotion and life than I thought possible. A must have book for any serious photographer/collector.
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