Book Description

The first substantial monograph of Andreas Gursky's work since 1984 this series of large-format color photographs depicts vast panoramic scenes: entire cityscapes, endless horizons, multi-floored office buildings, huge factory corridors and crowded public spaces. Taken from a distance, often with a bird's eye view, they represent more than a set of photographs of various locations -- rather Gursky's work reflects both the art forms and the everyday aesthetics of 20th-century society. Many photographs are allegories, offering a cultural critique of man's role in nature, technology, art and society. Other resemble abstract paintings, in which Gursky applies a number of formal elements, such as light, composition and form, to convey a mood or subtle message. In their size and scope, in their reflective mood and social commentary, and in their many layers of meaning and interpretation, these exquisitely reproduced portraits of interior and exterior spaces display the qualities that have made Andreas Gursky one of the most respected landscape photographers of his generation.