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Cohen, John (Photographer); Marcus, Greil (Contributor); Dylan, Bob; Frank, Robert & Other Subjects : There Is No Eye: Photographs By John Cohen

PowerHouse Books, New York City, NY, 2001

ISBN 157687107X

First Edition / First Printing. Fine in Fine Dust Jacket. 199 pages. Retrospective Monograph. One of the most important photography books of our time. The First Hardcover Edition. Precedes and should not be confused with all other subsequent editions, particularly the Softcover Edition. Published in a small and limited first print run as a hardcover original only. The First Edition is now scarce. An austerely elegant production by Yolanda Cuomo: Oversize-volume format. Pictorial hard boards with titles on cover and spine, as issued. Photographs by John Cohen. Essay by Greil Marcus. Printed on pristine-white, thick coated stock paper in Italy to the highest standards. The reproduction quality is exemplary in every respect. In pictorial DJ with titles on the cover and spine, as issued. Presents John Cohen's "There Is No Eye". A long-overdue retrospective of the artist/photographer's body of work, in all its singularity and humanity. "A guided tour through the worlds of artists, poets, and musicians. Cohen's lyrical stories of the cultures he has encountered complement his photographs taken over the past five decades. Featuring never-before-seen photographs of legendary Beat Generation icons, from literary lions Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, and Gregory Corso to artists and photographers Grace Hartigan, Franz Kline, Red Grooms, and Robert Frank, and a panoply of American Roots musicians, from Bob Dylan, Woody Guthrie, and Muddy Waters to Doc Watson, Elizabeth Cotton, and Roscoe Holcomb" (Publisher's blurb). The book's title is from the classic Bob Dylan song, "Highway 61 Revisited": 'You are right John Cohen / Quazimoto was right / Mozart was right / there is no eye / there is only a series of mouths, long live the mouths / your rooftop, if you don't already know, has been demolished". In his illuminating Essay, Greil Marcus interprets this to mean that Cohen's photographs, like all true art, somehow transcend and surpass his original intention (documentation or self-expression). He concludes that Cohen's "eyeless" images are great because they make no tendentious attempts whatsoever to make a point or statement, to convince us of something, or to promote a didactic point-of-view. "There is a saying that the treasures of the universe may be found between the eyes of a horse. One could say that the treasures of the earth may be found between the eyes of John Cohen. For we find in his images the wisdom of simplicity" (Patti Smith). An absolute "must-have" title for John Cohen collectors. This copy is very prominently, neatly, and beautifully signed in black ink-pen on the title page by John Cohen. It is signed directly on the page itself, not on a tipped-in page. He signed on top of the page (as was his custom with this title), making his otherwise tiny signature more prominent. This title is a late-modern photography classic. As far as we know, this is the only such signed copy of the First Hardcover Edition/First Printing available online and is in especially fine condition: Clean, crisp, and bright, a pristine beauty. Please note: Copies available online have serious flaws because the book soils easily. A rare signed copy thus. Lavishly illustrated with duotone plates. One of the most brilliant American photographers of our time. A fine collectible copy. (SEE ALSO OTHER JOHN COHEN TITLE IN OUR CATALOG). ISBN 157687107X.

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