3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Still baffling, still beautiful, May 22 2011
By Dennis Witmer - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: CANDLESTICK POINT (Hardcover)
This version of "Candlestick Point" (1st Edition, 2011, by Steidl) is remarkably similar to a previous version (1989, printed by Gallery Min, distributed by Aperture), so I guess I somewhat baffled by the editioning of the work. Since the photographs are all the same, and in the same sequence, and only the length and apparent rigor (complete with reproductions of classic paintings, of all things) of the essay following the work, and the size, color and quality of the printing differ, I think this should be considered a second edition of this work--but--well, I guess it's the first German edition.
The 1989 edition has been out of print for years, although copies do surface on e-bay at outrageous prices (I should know, because I always try to buy them cheap)--I do have a copy, though, that I bought many years ago--so I could compare the two "first editions" side by side. There are significant difference between the two--the Steidl version is smaller and colder than the 1989 version--which changes the mood of the light--the earlier version feels like the air itself is toxic, hanging over a very damaged landscape--the Steidl version feels humid but not poisoned.
But the images are baffling in both editions--I once took a walk in Candlestick Point several years ago--it's a "park" of dog walking and drug dealing--it's very close to San Francisco--so maybe it remains open land because of the danger of earthquakes shaking the earth into the bay--and the trash that is the subject for Baltz's work might just be "clean fill wanted" to try to raise the ground just a few feet--but it feels much more damaged than that--like the remains of a landscape after a nuclear holocaust.
So for those too poor or too cheap to buy the massive "Works" edition, the new Candlestick Point book provides a more cost effective way to enjoy a limited dose of Baltz's vision of what we've done--makes a nice paring with that other 20th century San Francisco photographer, Ansel Adams...