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Daiter, Stephen (Editor); Jachna, Joseph D. (Photographer) & Cancellieri, Agathe (Contributor) : Joseph D. Jachna: Surface Contradictions 1958-1971

Stephen Daiter Gallery, Chicago, IL, 2012

ISBN 0985952911

First Edition / First Printing. As New in No Dust Jacket, As Issued. 75 pages. Exhibition Catalog. One of the most beautiful books on the photographic art and achievement of Joseph D. Jachna. The first and only edition. Published in a small and limited first print run as a hardcover original only. None of the copies was sold commercially. The Exhibition Catalog is now rare. An austerely elegant production by Joseph D. Jachna and Adam Holtzman: Oversize-volume format. Gray cloth boards with photographic reproduction pasted in front and metallic-silver titles embossed on the cover and spine, as issued. Photographs by Joseph D. Jachna. Essay by Agathe Cancelliere. Printed on pristine-white, thick coated stock paper in the United States to the highest standards. The reproduction quality is exemplary in every respect. Without DJ, as issued. Published on the occasion of the landmark retrospective exhibition of the same name held at the Stephen Daiter Gallery Chicago in 2012. Presents Joseph D. Jachna's "Surface Contradictions 1958-1971". An indispensable guide to the singular art of one of the most remarkable artist/photographers of our time. This is the second (and final) volume published by Stephen Daiter on Jachna's oeuvre, preceded by "Or Water Is" (2000), published twelve years ago. It is also the only major volume published by the photographer in his lifetime (Jachna died in 2016). Throughout his long career, Jachna's desire to photograph Nature, particularly bodies of water, became a powerful instrument that connected him (and us) to the elemental richness of life, and just as important, to metaphorical self-reflection, the outer reality reflecting the inner life. As such, his images have reliably provided a much-needed calming, immersive, and meditative experience. This respite is otherwise impossible to find in contemporary photography, whose imagery is hectic, passive-aggressive, even violent. What does the rather provocative title mean? "Rough/Smooth; Wet/Dry; Matte/Lustre; Luminous/Dark; Teeming/Empty; Opaque/Transparent. These contrasts define Jachna's images. Using contradictory surfaces, he creates scenes which at first glance seem simple but upon further investigation, complex images emerge, physically radiant and psychologically revealing" (Agathe Cancelliere). In other words, Jachna's exploration of physics, our natural state, is finally about metaphysics, our psychological, even philosophical, state of being. This is why despite their ostensible natural subject, most of his prints are "Untitled", flouting the widely-accepted practice of identifying every landscape photograph with a specific place, date, and time. An absolute "must-have" title for Joseph D. Jachna collectors. This copy is very prominently, neatly, and beautifully signed and dated in black ink-pen on the title page by the photographer: "Joseph D. Jachna 01 18 13". It is signed directly on the page itself, not on a tipped-in page. This title is an art photography classic. As far as we know, this is the only such signed and dated copy of the Exhibition Catalog available online and is in especially fine condition: Clean, crisp, and bright, a pristine beauty. Please note: None of the copies was sold commercially. A rare signed copy thus. 56 plates. One of the most brilliant American photographers of our time. A fine copy. (SEE ALSO OTHER JOSEPH D. JACHNA TITLES IN OUR CATALOG). ISBN 0985952911.

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