Henry Leutwyler: Document - (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

New York-based photographer Henry Leutwyler's new book Document examines humble objects from iconic moments such as the first moonwalk, political assassinations or episodes in the lives of musicians, artists and athletes. Ten years in the making, Document is essentially a collection of portraits of things: Mahatma Gandhi's sandal, Alan Shepard's golf club, Janis Joplin's acoustic guitar, Jack Ruby's handgun. Leutwyler shows us these objects close up--straight on and without backdrop--in a style that is equal parts still life, portraiture and crime-scene photography.

Though isolated from their contexts and owners, these objects are the testaments of bodily histories, the traces of personalities and the stuff of our collective memory. Document invites us to engage with our "icons" in wholly new ways, and to see our history differently, through the unexpected emotional charge of singular objects.

Review Quotes

A visual narrative of the popular culture told through the artifacts left behind by its most complelling figures.-- "L'Officiel"

Among other objects photographed for the release--a Christian Dior tuxedo shirt, a Rasta cap, a pair of Issey Miyake sunglasses, and a Muppet doll--each testifies that their proprietors, however elusive from the public eye, were indeed perfectly imperfect.--Derrick Gaiter "Document"

Bob Dylan's harmonica, Andy Warhol's paintbrush, Julia Child's madeleine tray and Charlie Chaplin's cane--these are just a few of the over 300 seemingly mundane items that Henry Leutwyler has sought out and photographed over the past 12 years. He envisions the images as intimate, anthropological portraits of the objects' proprietors.--Elisa Lipsky-Karasz "Wall Street Journal"

Fascinating.... the pages of this book are filled with interesting objects owned by intriguing people from history, pop culture, the arts, and sports.--Jeff Campagna "Smithsonian"

Featuring 124 photographs of objects, from Jimi Hendrix's red fender to John Lennon's blue-tinted glasses, it offers a humanizing document of society, especially when Leutwyler turns his attention to the footwear of the famous, like Michael Jackson's studded shoe with his initials written under one of the soles, Gene Kelly's beaten up yellow converse and Sylvie Guillem's ballet slippers.--Bianca Silva "Time Magazine"

Leutwyler takes us on a journey through popular culture and even though the subjects are missing from the photographs, this is indeed his book of portraits, raw, honest, loving, of sometimes tragic portraits.--Gilles Decamps "L'Oeil de la Photographie"

The objects themselves, if gathered together, would make for a rather peculiar exhibition, a diverse and idiosyncratic kunstkammer. But as a collection of still lifes they have a unity, a cohesiveness that comes from having been subjected to one sensibility and the same forensic eye.--Jonathan Bastable "Christie's"

The one-of-a-kind project is comprised of 124 photographs of seemingly ordinary items whose history renders them extraordinary: the gun that killed John Lennon, Bob Dylan's harmonica, Andy Warhol's paintbrush...--Cody Delistraty "Longreads"

This notion of magical contagion is part of what makes the photographs in Document, a new book published by Steidl and exhibit at Foley Gallery by Henry Leutwyler, so transfixing. Over the course of 12 years, Leutwyler, a specialist in celebrity portraiture, photographed 124 objects that were somehow connected to famous or notorious individuals, all deceased.--Carey Dunne "Hyperallergic"

Though he's best known as a celebrity photographer, his photographs in Document showcase a different iteration of his minimalist style. Rather than celebrities, the pages of this book are filled with interesting objects owned by intriguing people from history, pop culture, the arts, and sports. The result is an encompassing and unconventional collection of images ranging from Mohandas Gandhi's wire-frame spectacles to Bob Marley's charred-black first guitar to Julia Child's madeleine baking tray. Seemingly ordinary items assume added significance when their owners' identities are revealed.--Jeff Campagna "Smithsonian"