It’s no longer a shock to open your e-mail and receive solicitations for different kinds of porn, but it’s somewhat surprising when the purveyor is that august New York institution – The International Center of Photography. Still all’s fair in love and photography and I imagine they’re having a rollicking good time on the corner of 43rd and 6th.
In all seriousness, ICP has one of the best photography bookstores in New York (the other being Dashwood Books) and offer both a great selection and guilt-free browsing – a nice combination. And if you feel like it, you can also take in three interesting shows there right now -Heavy Light:
Recent Photography and Video from Japan; Arbus/
Avedon/ Model:
Selections from the Bank of America LaSalle Collection; and Bill Wood’s Business (Diane Keaton’s latest archive discovery). I particularly recommend Heavy Light.
But back to the bookstore and their e-mail offering, in addition to selections from British collector/dealer Danny Moynihan’s private collection of pornographic photographs, if you're looking for more porn there's a rare limited edition set of playing cards featuring images from Daido Moriyama's "Kagero & Colors".
If you’re looking for more respectable fare, there’s a brand new monograph on Hannah Starkey (one of England’s most interesting photographers but rarely seen Stateside); a republished version of Peter Beard’s seminal "End of the Game" designed by Ruth Ansel; and a new monograph by the Dutch stylist/photographer Erwin Olaf. Enough to make venturing into midtown where the temperature is well into the high 90s as we speak worthwhile.
