David Katzenstein - (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

A collection of photographs created by David Katzenstein using the Duaflex camera, a successor to Kodak's famous Brownie camera.

Brownie is a collection of photographs created by photographer David Katzenstein over ten years, from 1979-1989. With this series, Katzenstein pays homage to the original line of Brownie cameras that began in 1900. For the series, he used the successor to the famous Kodak Brownie, the Kodak Dualflex, which was first introduced in 1947. The result is a colorful, personal, and sensitive view of the world.

Described by one critic as "Hot, Lush and Specific," the series begins in New York City, eventually traveling the globe to explore both distant places and the use of the Kodak Duaflex camera. Throughout the project, Katzenstein's goal was to embrace the camera's limitations as a means of pushing the boundaries of composition, juxtaposing foreground and background while heightening the use of color.

Review Quotes

"Katzenstein's approach was defined as much by patience as by spontaneity. He preferred to photograph after sunrise or before sunset, when the light softened edges and deepened tones. The square frame didn't impose humor but occasionally revealed it...""

-- "Blind Magazine"

"Resembling a pilgrimage, his camera work is almost a spiritual experience. Readers witness Katzenstein's experience through his own eyes. A provocative, out-of-focus set of images characterizes his style throughout the book. The artist challenges clarity, masterfully proving it is not the only way to take pictures."

-- "Musée Magazine"

"The photographs... are unconventionally framed and often out of focus in provocative ways. Nonetheless they create an extraordinarily rich and vivid picture of the world and, in the process, challenge our notions of what photography can be."

-- "The Observer"

"Brownie is an extraordinary book, not for what it says about place and not for what it says about technique. It is extraordinary because it brings back to life an interpretive aesthetic milieu."-- "Frames Magazine"

About the Author

New York-based photographer David Katzenstein travels the world on his lifelong artistic journey as a visual chronicler of humanity. Using subject, light, and composition to create visual dynamism, he invites viewers to be in the moment with him. Katzenstein is the managing editor of the Barkley L. Hendricks Photography Archive. To date, he has published three monographs: Ritual, Distant Journeys, and Brownie, all published by Hirmer.