From Publishers Weekly
The subjects of these black-and-white portraits project their awareness of being in the presence of a friend, albeit a friend with a camera. Ponsold, who worked in the photography department at the Museum of Modern Art and is the wife of Robert Motherwell, had entree to the society of prominent artists, writers and musicians, from James Baldwin to Sophia Loren to David Hockney. She explains that she received the opportunity to photograph Louis Armstrong because she "had the good fortune to be invited to a private charity appearance at his hotel"; and that she met Octavio Paz when he visited Motherwell to discuss the use of the latter's lithographs in a special edition of Paz's poems. Both the admiring introduction by art critic Ashton and the afterword by Motherwell are too clubby to offer much of critical value, but these candid and thoughtfully composed images can stand on their own.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Book Description
This is collection of photographs of some of the most influential post-war artists, novelists, musicians, critics, poets and actors, including Duke Ellington, Alice Neel, Edward Albee, Man Ray, Louis Armstrong, Klaus Kinski and Frank Stella. They are often candid and reveal the subject in a wide variety of situations and moods. The accompanying text discusses the role portrait photography plays in the historical record and in our collective visual memory and its role in fulfilling our curiosity about what the people of a certain time looked like. The author explores Ponsold's personality and craft, which in her view, enables her to capture her subjects so as to reveal the essence of each of them. Renate Ponsold has exhibited in many galleries in the USA and Europe. Her photographs have appeared in the "New York Times Magazine", "Art News" and "Arts". Dore Ashton has published over 21 books and many articles on the arts.
