3-D pulps
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What a treat to get a book, open it and immediately be grabbed by the contents. 'Uncovered' did that for me. Mr Allen has been scouring pulp paperbacks for years it seems, his fight photo 'Red' was done in 2002 and used by designer Chip Kidd for the cover of James Elroy's 'Blood on the Moon'.
The twenty-eight photos in the book actually turn out to be a varied selection, a sort of template for Allen to go and explore other print media besides pulp paperbacks from past decades. 'Swell' shows a galleon tossed on the wave pages of an encyclopedia, the delightful 'Uplift' has two children on a swing or 'Migrate' with two birds having flown from a spread but leaving their shape so you can see the text on the previous and next page.
The book's production is rather intriguing. The thick cardboard like pages, round corners on two sides and a sepia tinting for an aged look on some pages are suggestive of children's books from yesteryear but the violent and suggestive nature to many of the photos seem at odds with fun and frolics of children's playbooks. The cover is brilliant though. The sexy blond is actually on page three, her shape has been die-cut from the cover.
'Uncovered' will delight anyone who opens its pages. It all looks so obvious yet it was Thomas Allen who seems to be the first person to realize the creative potential of the cut cover tableaux.
***FOR AN INSIDE LOOK click 'customer images' under the cover.
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Beautifully produced, two masters at work
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This work is so fresh and surprising, a few years on from the first time I saw it. When I read that Aperture had released it and that Chip Kidd was involved it was on my doorstep within a few days. And I wasn't disappointed.
Hand this book to a friend and see their tenseness at the title and cover image fade away as the realisation of how the photos are constructed starts to make sense.
The format of the book seems perfect for the subject matter, although a larger size would have been even better.
What I will say is, try and get to see some of these prints at their full size, then you'll really appreciate the mastery of the art that Thomas Allen posseses.
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