EPSTEIN, Mitch - New York Arbor

Background information

"The out-of-print photo volume 'New York Arbor' by US-American photographer Mitch EPSTEIN contains a series of photographs of the idiosyncratic trees that inhabit New York City. From 2011 to 2012, he explored New York’s five boroughs in search of remarkable trees, often returning to photograph the same trees through the changing seasons and light. Many of these trees, he learnt, were planted in one context - a farm or nursery, for instance - and had survived to be part of another, a city street or public garden; and most will likely outlive us to find their habitat continue to change. The cumulative effect of these photographs is to invert people’s usual view of their city: trees no longer function as background, but instead dominate the human life and architecture around them. As urban development closes in on them, surprisingly, New York’s trees continue to thrive. The books was included in 'TIME Picks the Best Photobooks of 2013' and on the list of Doug Stockdale with eleven 'Interesting Photobooks for 2013'

Content

The nearly full-paged pictures in the out-of-print, oversized photo volume 'New York Arbor' by Mitch EPSTEIN underscore the importance of trees to urban life and their complex relationship to their human counterparts. Rooted in New York’s sidewalks, parks, and cemeteries, some trees grow wild, some are contortionists adapting to constrictive surroundings, while others are pruned into prize specimens." (slightly adapted text, © Steidl Verlag, 2013)

Book review

"'New York Arbor' is a beautiful book that is classically designed and elegantly printed to showcase the lyrical black and white photographs of Mitch EPSTEIN. The interior plates are approximate in size to the original large format film and in conjunction with the superb printing, the experience is breath taking, not unlike viewing large format contact prints." (© Douglas STOCKDALE)

About US-American photographer, Mitch EPSTEIN (b. 1952)

Photo books by and with works by Mitch EPSTEIN