SULTAN, Larry - Evidence

Background information

Originally published in 1977 to much acclaim, 'Evidence' by US-photographer Larry SULTAN is a rather straightforward photo volume. The American photographers Larry SULTAN and Mike MANDEL sifted through thousands of photographs in the files of the Bechtel Corporation, the Beverly Hills Police Department, the Jet Propulsion Laboratories, the U.S. Department of the Interior, Stanford Research Institute and a hundred other corporations, American government agencies, and educational, medical and technical institutions. They were looking for photographs that were made and used as transparent documents and purely objective instruments--as evidence, in short. Selecting 50 of the best, they printed these images with the care you would expect to find in a high-quality art photography book, publishing them in a simple, limited-edition volume titled 'Evidence'. The concept for the book was clear: select photographs intended to be used as objective evidence and show that it is never that simple. Now an undisputed classic in the photo world, considered a seminal harbinger of conceptual photography, 'Evidence' is nearly impossible to find (actually, in 2017, you can find it for approx. € 500,00).Over the past few years - really ever since the publication of Andrew Roth's fantastic and hotly debated 'The Book of 101 Books' - several of the titles listed there have found their way back to the printer, given new life as either facsimile reprints or in brand-new editions. William EGGLESTON's 'Guide', Joel STERNFELD's 'American Prospects' and Moi VER's 'Paris' immediately come to mind. 'Evidence' by Larry SULTAN also joins that short list.

Book review, content

"The concept for this book is clear - select photographs intended to be used as objective evidence and show that it is never that simple..." (© David Levi Strauss, in 'The Books of 101 Books')
Mike MANDEL & Larry SULTAN combed through the photographic archives and repositories of over 100 corporations and government, educational, and medical institutions. Presented as formal objects, these evidential images are transformed into art photographs, calling into question all sorts of basic assumptions about the nature of truth and objectivity. 

About the re-issue from 2004

"In 1977, photographers Larry SULTAN and Mike MANDEL published a book that would radically transform both photography and the photobook canon. (...) Larry SULTAN and Mike MANDEL sifted through thousands of photographs in the files of the Bechtel Corporation, the Los Angeles Police Department, the Jet Propulsion Laboratories, the US Department of the Interior, Stanford Research Institute and a hundred other corporations, American government agencies and educational, medical and technical institutions. They were looking for photographs that were made and used as transparent documents and purely objective instruments - as evidence, in short. Selecting 59 of the best, they published these images with the care you would expect to find in a high-quality art photography book, issuing them in 1977 in a simple, limited-edition volume titled 'Evidence'. Long established as a photo book classic and a seminal example of conceptual photography, 'Evidence' was reissued as a facsimile edition in 2004 by D.A.P. with a new spread of images and a group of black-and-white illustrations selected by the artists from an archive of photographs that were not included in the original book, plus a commissioned essay by Sandra Phillips. Both - this 2004's reissue and the original 1977 publication - were exceptionally rare and command high prices."

About the US-American photographers, Larry SULTAN (1946 - 2009) & Mike MANDEL (b. 1950)

Photo books and on the work by Larry SULTAN

Photo books by and on the work by Mike MANDEL