Obvious & Ordinary – America 2006 – signed

Very good copy. STAMPED in black ink with the individual artists’ two “signatures” (the artists’ choice of aliases) on the title page. First edition, first printing. Soft cover. Saddle-bound, with heavy cardstock printed wrappers. Photographs by Obvious & Ordinary (AKA Martin Parr & John Gossage). Unpaginated (72 pp.), with 36 four-color and 36 black-and-white illustrations. 10-3/4 x 8-1/2 inches. This first edition was limited to 750 copies in the United States and 750 copies in Europe. CONDITION: New in publisher’s shrink-wrap (slit open for stampings only). A flawless copy. On a pilgrimage to visit William Eggleston in Memphis, Tennessee, the two well-known photographers who collaborate here under the pseudonym Obvious & Ordinary present their respective views of “America.” Although some of the work nods toward Eggleston’s, the distinct aesthetic sensibilities of these two artists come through loud and clear. In an effort to foreground the photographs rather than the personalities, Obvious & Ordinary wish to remain unnamed. Yet the saturated color close-ups of garish food and consumer culture, together with the moody taciturn black-and-white views of decaying cities and suburban detritus, taken respectively by a Briton and an American known for these very types of images, makes it easy to figure out the source of the imagery. What’s more important, however, is the conceptual gesture of the photographs and the book itself, which manages to be humble in stature, but rich in content. In this sense, America 2006 promises to become a classic photobook.