Book Signing with Ralph Gibson!

Please join us for a book signing with legendary Leica Photographer, Ralph Gibson!

Ralph will sign his new release with TASCHEN: "Ralph Gibson. Photographs 1960 - 2024"

Nudes, portraits, still lives, narratives: loyal to his Leica, Ralph Gibson ranges between genres and creates new categories of vision. The most comprehensive collection of this highly acclaimed and prolific American photographer, this book offers the fruit of six decades of image-making.

Travelling widely, Ralph Gibson works primarily in inspired series, associated image reveries in both monochrome and color, whose titles—The Somnambulist, Déjà-Vu, Days at Sea, and Chiaroscuro—underline the particular poetic sensibility that informs his work. Starting out in 1960 with Dorothea Lange, he made his way to New York in 1967 and was soon considered in the same light as the likes of Larry Clark and Diane Arbus.

The photographs and series can of course speak for themselves. But for Gibson there is a philosophy at play behind the image, and in the included short texts he proposes his thesis. Nudes, portraits, still lives, narratives—loyal to his Leica, Gibson ranges between genres and creates new categories of vision. He gets closer to things and meditates on them in a way that only the silence of the image can attempt.

Produced in close collaboration with the artist, this book offers the fruit of more than six decades of image-making. From Gibson’s first photographs in San Francisco, Hollywood, and New York in the 1960s right up to the present day, this is the most comprehensive collection of this highly acclaimed photographer.

Ralph Gibson, born on January 16, 1939, in Hollywood, California, is a revered American photographer renowned for his surrealistic black-and-white images. The son of the Hollywood film industry (his father was an assistant director to Alfred Hitchcock), Gibson's early exposure to film sets ignited his passion for photography. He studied photography during his tenure in the U.S. Navy and furthered his studies at the San Francisco Art Institute. Gibson's professional journey began as an assistant to iconic photographer Dorothea Lange in San Francisco, and later, he assisted on several of Robert Frank's films.

His distinctive style, characterized by high-contrast abstract compositions, often transforms everyday objects into evocative narratives. Gibson's love for books and book-making is evident, with over 40 monographs published to date, including seminal works like "The Somnambulist" (1970) through his own Lustrum Press. His photographs are celebrated in over 200 museum collections globally, with over 250 solo exhibitions.

A multifaceted artist, Gibson has lectured in over 20 countries, received fellowships from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation and the U.S. NEA, and been honored with awards such as the Leica Medal of Excellence, the Lucie Award, and the Silver Plume. France has recognized his contributions by bestowing upon him the rank of Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters in 2000, and in 2018, he was made a Knight of the Legion of Honor. In 2019, he was inducted into the International Photography Hall of Fame. In 2021, he was inducted into the Leica Hall of Fame. In 2023, he received the Centenary Gold Medal from the Royal Photographic Society of Great Britain and was made an Honorary Fellow of the society.

Gibson collaborated with Lou Reed on the film "RED SHIRLEY" and endorsed a limited Leica Monochrom camera edition. He has also explored the fusion of his photographs and music into film and live performances, showcasing his artistic versatility. Ralph Gibson's profound impact on photography remains unparalleled, solidifying his legacy in the annals of art history.