The Book Shopper

Readers at an Exhibition

Currently on exhibit at The High Museum of Art in Atlanta is Postcards from Paris by photographer André Kertész (American, born Hungarian 1894 - 1985). Included in the exhibit are a couple of reading-related photographs. One is of Parisian gallery owner Jan Sliwinsky in his study (circa 1926-27) shown here at the right.

Another notable photograph is that of Dutch painter Piet Mondrian's glasses, which we all know are needed for reading. And the pipe too. Can't read without the pipe.

Kertész on Reading

But what really connects Kertész to books is On Reading (2008), a collection of photographs taken between 1915 and 1970. The book was originally published in 1971, but was it restored and reissued in 2008 (and available online at Destination: Books). It is a pictorial paean to reading with photographs of engaged readers on city rooftops, on crowded streets, and browsing at book shops from Paris to New York. 

 Note: The Kertész exhibit is at the High until May 29th.  It looks much better in person than online, though I will warn you that the "postcards" are sometimes the size of postage stamps. 

Shiloh Anniversary

April 6th and 7th is the 160th anniversary of the Battle of Shiloh that was fought in 1862. In this 1965 snapshot my older brother Neil and I are standing in front of Ruggles Battery near the Hornet's Nest. Our parents took us boys on a road trip to Shiloh, Lookout Mountain, Chickamauga and Atlanta. Little did I know then I would end up living in Atlanta,

This trip was the beginning of my lifelong interest in history. Last year, I wrote an essay for the Tropics of Meta about Drew Gilpin Faust's This Republic of Suffering: Death and the American Civil War, which established that the two-day battle with almost 25,000 casualties was unlike anything seen before on the North American continent. The premise of the book is that the Civil War changed America's attitudes towards death. The essay draws a comparison between Faust's book and the struggles this country has coming to terms with the nearly one million deaths from COVID-19.