A Shimmer of Possibility [Paperback]

In my experience there are two types of people who are drawn to photography. One group focuses on the experience of the individual image. The other group, focuses less on the individual image and more on the overall impact -- either the ability of the photographer to create a consistent style that runs through the images or the way that the images are sequenced. In very rare cases, like Robert Frank's American's, one gets the lucky combination of both stunning individual images and stellar sequencing.

Individuals fixated on the power of the individual image will find more pop in other places. But, for those interested in how images are put together and sequenced, this is the most important project of the past decade. Graham has achieved the rarest of accomplishments -- stretching the boundaries of the media. I've only had my copy for a few days, so I can't comment on how often I'll return to it. But I can say, without hesitation, that it is a unique experience not to be missed. With over 150 years of photobooks in print, Graham has managed to create something fundamentally new.

I have not seen the 2007 first edition of this book, which was a hardcover 12-volume set limited to 1000 copies*; however, this single-volume 2009 paperback edition is impressive in its own right.

It's 12.5" high by 9.5" wide and 1.25" deep, and is divided by purple pages into 12 "sub-books" (as I'll call them). The book has no text other than on the last page which contains the book's title and author, the "sub-book" titles, and copyright information. Here is my summary of each "sub-book," giving the title; total number of pages, number of blank pages, pages with 1 photo, and pages with partial photos (i.e., the photos extend across a page spread)**; and a brief description.

-"Pittsburgh, 2004" (32 total pages = 15 blank + 13 with one photo + 4 devoted to photos that extend across a page spread): Photos of an African-American man pushing a lawnmower on the grass next to a parking lot, interspersed with photos of canned food and soap on shelves. One photo of a minivan in a parking lot.

-"New York & North Dakota, 2005" (32=14+10+6): Photos shot on city streets show an African-American man holding his neck and head, and also smoking. These alternate (more or less) with photos of an orange-red cloudy sky over a wooded area near sunset.

-"California, 2005-2006" (32=12+16+4): Begins with a white styrofoam cup held by an African-American man in the light. Seven evening photos switch between a girl eating food on a sidewalk and a man near a garbage can at a Jack in the Box. Eight mid-day photos of a white boy in a park(?),white girls skateboard in a park, and a white family eating outdoors at an In-N-Out Burger across the street from a Shell station. Ends with a white styrofoam cup held by an African-American man in the shade (perhaps he simply turned relative to the first photo).

-"Austin, Texas, 2006" (24=11+9+4): A white woman with two plastic grocery bags and a white woman with two 12-packs of Pepsi on her shoulder walk past a Jack in the Box, cemetery, etc. Interspersed are two large photos of African-American adults standing near a garbage can and African-American children playing in a backyard.

-"Washington and South Broad, New Orleans, 2004-2006" (64=30+20+14): This lengthiest sub-book has at least eight scenes, and if people are seen they are African-Americans: (1) A woman sitting at a bus stop eats food and smokes. (2) Shelves stocked with liquor and candy. (3) Cloudy skies at dusk, interspersed with a man whose legs are amputated sitting in a wheelchair near a blue stanchion. (4) A man walking with a small girl. (5) Maraschino cherries in a puddle on a sidewalk (perhaps referring to the effects of Hurricane Katrina of 2005?). (6) People walking in the foreground, with an "Ebony Beauty Supply" billboard in the background. (7) People in front of King's Meat Market. (8) People near a telephone across the street from a Spur gasoline station.

-"Las Vegas & San Francisco, 2005" (24=12+10***+2): A white homeless(?) man with roses at night on a street, interspersed with an older white man smoking next to a building during the day.

-"Everett Avenue, Chelsea, Boston 26th August 2006" (40=14+8+18): People of various races walking or driving past a bank, Dunkin' Donuts, a Western Union agent, the Chelsea trial court, a 7-Eleven, a beauty salon, etc. At the beginning and end of this sub-book are two large photos of a butterfly flying against a large expanse of sky.

-"Camarro [sic], Louisiana, 2005" (8=6+0+2): The shortest sub-book has a single photo of a parked blue Chevrolet Camaro with peeling paint on its hood.

-"New England, 2006" (24=8+6+10): In a neighborhood with large houses and lots of trees, a white woman in the distance walks her dogs on the street. In three medium to close-up shots, an elderly white woman checks her mail.

-"Chicago, San Francisco, Minneapolis, New Orleans, 2005-2006" (40=20+8+12): This sub-book features several scenes, including an elderly white woman clutching a dollar bill and coffee; a shirtless tattooed white man walking past the corner of a brick building; an African-American woman scratching off a lottery ticket on top of a garbage can; and an African-American man jumping on a trampoline.

-"Louisiana, 2005" (24=12+10***+2): A white man and a cat walk down a trail, ending at the Aloha Motel.

-"Texas & North Dakota, 2005" (20=11+9+10): Near sunset in a neighborhood, an African-American girl and man play basketball in the street. These photos are followed by a gas station and pickup trucks in a rural area, also around sunset.

In an interview on the "Paul Graham Archive" Web site, the photographer cites Anton Chekhov's short stories as his main influence for "Shimmer of Possibility," and calls each of the sub-books "a filmic haiku." But instead of comparing this work to text-based literature, I would compare it to the famed 1958/1959 photography book "The Americans" by Robert Frank. Unlike "The Americans," this book is in color and has a substantial number of blank pages (165 of the 364 white pages), but those are minor differences. Both books: (1) examine racism and class differences in everyday events; (2) provoke emotional reactions ranging from hope to despair; (3) do not offer clear answers to issues, but instead are ambiguous; (4) use sequences and themes (e.g., cars) creatively; (5) include photos taken from numerous locations within the U.S.; (6) are divided into sections (although there are no physical dividing pages in "The Americans"); (7) have no narrative text to accompany the photos; and (8) represent great examples of photographs presented more effectively in book form than in a gallery.

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* The out-of-print first edition, which is now selling for several times its original price of $250, is noted for: (a) consisting of 12 books with different-colored hardcovers; (b) winning Paul Graham the prestigious Deutsche Börse Photography Prize 2009; and (c) being named one of the 10 "best photobooks of the decade" (2000-2009) by photobook gurus Martin Parr and Gerry Badger in the British Journal of Photography.

** See Customer Image for examples of these three types of pages.

*** In each of these sub-books, one page has two photos on it.

'A Shimmer of Possibility' was voted by a panel of experts at Paris Photo 2011 to be the best Photobook of the past 15 years, and I would completely agree.

Graham not only made something new in book form by breaking each 'story' up into discreet volumes, allowing these anonymous moments a quiet dignity to themselves, but he also made something new photographically with these flowing sequences of images that literally educate you about perceiving life as it flows past us - time itself becomes a character in the work, rather than the frozen shard it usually is. As other reviewers here say this marked something fresh and new in the making and publishing of photography, and well deserves the praise and awards it has won. Work like this reminds me why I first fell in love with the medium - going out into the world and bringing back something profoundly meaningful from life, art and photography.

The 12 volume publication is the original and best one to get if you can find it. Sadly the book dealers moved in on it quickly and it sold out. The original $250 set of 12 books is now starts around $800. The publisher re-printed it as a much more affordable single volume, with the original book sequences split by a solid purple double page. Not as good as the original, but a fair way to get the ideas of this work out there at a price nearly everyone can afford.

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