Seller
The Importance of Elsewhere
Philip Larkin's Photographs
Synopsis
'Larkin's photographs not only illustrate his poems - they explain and deepen them ... superlative, succinct and subtle biographical commentary'.The Times
The most widely read British poet of the twentieth century, Philip Larkin was also a keen amateur photographer and through his life he made images of the people, places and things that meant most to him. The Importance of Elsewhere gathers the best of Larkin's photographic work, divided into short thematic chapters arranged in chronological order.
Written by Richard Bradford, the acclaimed author of the Larkin biography First Boredom, Then Fear, the book shows how Larkin, as an individual, as a writer and indeed as a photographer, developed an acute sensitivity to all aspects of the world around him, from his love of open uninhabited landscapes and empty churches to his mixed feelings about crowds. There are also fascinating portraits of those people who were closest to Larkin, including his lovers, his mother and his literary peers.
The book beautifully reproduces more than 200 images from the Larkin archive at Hull: the majority have never previously been seen in print. A substantial foreword by Mark Haworth-Booth, formerly curator of photography at the V&A, explores what it meant to be a serious amateur photographer of Larkin's generation.
Together with Larkin's literary works and his letters, these images make up the third, so far unseen, constituent of the material upon which our future perceptions of him will be based.
New & Used
Seller |
Information |
Condition |
Price |
|
| - | New | | Out of Stock |
What Reviewers Are Saying
"Larkin's trusty Rolleiflex seems by far the most telling medium through which to come face-to-face with the man behind the lens." * The Independent * "A beautifully produced book ... the photographs display the full range of his poetic sensibility, from the melancholic to the comical" * The New Yorker * "For anyone interested in English Poetry of the twentieth century, The Importance of Elsewhere is a fascinating book. For those with a particular interest in Philip Larkin, it';s an event." * LiteratureWorks * "A fascinating and tantalising book, and one that sheds light on a great poet and tricky human being, who seems to have found, in photography, another altogether less fretful - and perhaps kinder - way of preserving what he experienced." * The Observer * Christmas 2015: The top 14 poetry books - "There may not be much undiscovered work to come from Philip Larkin, but for completists The Importance of Elsewhere: Philip Larkin's Photographs, by his biographer Richard Bradford, is indispensable." * The Independent * "Larkin's photographs not only illustrate his poems - they explain and deepen them." "...superlative, succinct and subtle biographical commentary" * The Times * "The only revelation in this imposingly handsome book turns out to be Larkin's talent behind the lens." * Daily Telegraph *