DOUBLE DOUBLE
Writings/ Photographs/ Poetry/ Archives
A Holly Lee and Lee Ka-sing online magazine. Published on Fridays.
李家昇黃楚喬網上雜誌，逢星期五出版
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CURRENT WORK
Sushi Grass in Paradise (A story)
written by Holly Lee
with photographs by Lee Ka-sing
(42) A Brief History of mid-20th Century Photography (in the West)?
In the Encyclopedia of Twentieth-Century Photography, it has been recorded that all the black and white images of The Family of Man catalogue were printed by regular rotogravure. The catalogue was published by Maco, a magazine printing company, which subsequently produced ten more editions in the next five years. It went on to sell hundreds of thousands of copies worldwide. By 1961, MoMA had sold more than one million copies of the catalogue, marking it the single most successful photography publication in the twentieth century. The copy which the HOSOP team held on hand, might be just one among the earliest editions, since the first edition was sold for only $1.
“Then this is a book of some value.” said Mrs. Bento. Chai has come across the photographer Edward Steichen during her school years in Ryerson, and learned that he was famous for organizing the exhibition The Family of Man. In the MoMA website it stated that the exhibition toured the world for eight years, showing in thirty-seven countries on six continents. What happens to the collection of prints now? Chai wondered. In a very good home. Yes, Google said.
“Which home? Didn’t the exhibition belong to MoMA?” asked Mrs. Bento.
“According to Steichen’s wish, the US Government donated the last complete version of the traveling exhibition to Clervaux Castle in Luxembourg, a 900-year-old national monument, which is also Steichen’s birthplace. In 2003 the exhibition was listed on the UNESCO Memory of the World register. And then after, actually, after a big restoration of the photographs in 2010, The Castle reopened the collection to the public as a permanent exhibition.”
“That means we all have a chance to see it!” exclaimed Yoji. “Visiting history within history. The assemblage of photographic work can almost tell, well, a brief history of photography of mid-20th Century. Many of the famous and known photographers were there…”
“But the representation is primarily from the West!” argued George. “And only based on the aspect of documenting how people lived and what was happening at that time…I mean that is okay too. Steichen never mentioned it as a roadmap to the history of 20th century photography, especially from today’s viewpoint, it feels entirely inadequate. Though some critic viewed it as shallow and over idealistic to deal with the world’s problems, I won’t debate Steichen’s sincerity in generating this enormous project. It might be the deepest gesture and the best endeavours he could perceive to promote better understanding between the human species, just when the horror of the Second World War was slowly fading from memory.”
"Sushi Grass in Paradise" is an on-going story. To read the full length version with previous chapters, please visit- https://oceanpounds.com/blogs/sushi-grass-in-paradise
CURRENT WORK
Lee Ka-sing
Movie about a prayer in the post massive explosion period (2019)
Selection from DUET series
Photographs from DUET series are available in BIBLIOTHEKA editions - print which remains the exact layout of a single page of BIBLIOTHEKA folio publication, size 6.25x13 inches, open edition with BIBLIOTHEKA blind-stamp, and signed on verso. Please contact mail@leekasing.com
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DOUBLE DOUBLE
Issue 1122-2019
A Holly Lee and Lee Ka-sing online magazine. Published on Fridays.
Published by Ocean and Pounds and archived at oceanpounds.com
All rights Reserved.
Selective items in this publication are available at the OCEAN POUNDS online shop. For items featured in CURRENT WORK, VINTAGE, ARTIFACT, PUBLICATION, OBJECT, BOOKSCAPE and COLLECTION, please send a request to: mail@oceanpounds.com.
If you are a researcher or writer and want to use the material, please write us in advance. Some of the materials might have different level of copyrights involved.
Not to miss a single issue, please subscribe to DOUBLE DOUBLE Release Notification. Visit - http://doubledouble.org
DOUBLE DOUBLE previous issues were archived at -
https://oceanpounds.com/blogs/doubledouble
leekasing.com is a portal website for current and earlier works. Apart from exhibitions, Holly and Ka-sing use extensively web platforms to display photography and writing projects. Contact us for a detail list of links.
Holly and Ka-sing currently live in Toronto with their daughter Iris, and their cat Sukimoto.
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