Photography is not art, proclaims Man Ray in the essay re-published here as an impeccable facsimile edition of the 1937 original. A pamphlet of loose sheets and 12 images, this publication re-visits an issue that was hotly controversial during the first half of the 20th century — Is Photography Art? — as examined in the influential Paris magazine L’Art. Despite the fact that Man Ray’s provocative works were among the photographs generally agreed by critics to be, in fact, art, Man Ray himself seems barely interested in considering the question. “There’s no point trying to find out if it’s an art,” he said. “Art is a thing of the past. We need something else. You’ve got to watch light at work. It’s light that creates. I sit down in front of my sheet of photographic paper and I think.”

condition: very good, moderate shelf wear.

When Austrian-born photographer Bernhard Fuchs shoots a portrait, the landscape is as important as the face. His portrayals of people from his native village, Mühlviertel, show them in places where they have deep roots. When the subjects live in cities, the photos express the rootless quality of urban life, with open doors and blank walls providing backdrops. Accompanying text by renowned photojournalist Timm Starl.