Shadow of Light

New York: A Studio Book, The Viking Press, 1966.

First American Edition, published in parallel with the Thames and Hudson British edition. Quarto. pp 12 + 128 of b/w photographs, with captions listed at the back. Fine copy in the superbly clean and fresh dust-jacket. Contemp. inscription to verso of first endpaper. A remarkable collection of Brandt's famous images of London before the second world war, towns in the north of England during the Depression of the thirties, London Blitz, portraits, landscaapes, nudes, c200 photographs. One of the great photographic collections. Brandt cut his teeth as a pupil of Man Ray in 1929 before moving to London in the early 30s. His eye was drawn to the British social scene and the domestic pursuits of both impoverished and the nobs. His favoured method was to employ deep contrasts between shadow and light (hence the title of the book) to produce his distinctive images.