Eye Magazine

In the past few years, a number of the twentieth century’s seminal photographic books have been re-issued. From Paul Strand’s La France de Profil (La Guilde du Livre, 1952), and Robert Frank’s The Americans (Grove Press, 1959) to East 100th Street by Bruce Davidson (Harvard University Press, 1970) and William Eggleston’s Guide (Museum of Modern Art, 1976), have all found their way back on to the shelves of bookstores.

This is a welcome trend which seems set to continue. With many of the original books now costing many hundreds, if not thousands of pounds, the opportunity for many readers to see these books in full is somewhat limited. While most of these re-issues are true facsimiles, a minority of authors have taken the opportunity to update the content while remaining true to their original vision.

Carnival Strippers by Magnum photographer Susan Meiselas was originally published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux in 1976, but for the re-issue by Whitney / Steidl, she has chosen to take the latter route . . .

Those already familiar with this book it will welcome its new perspective and opportunity to revisit, while for those who come to the work for the first time it will enthral, excite and disturb.