Amateur Photographer - UK 2019-11-15)

74 9 November 2019I http://www.amateurphotographer.co.ukI subscribe 0330 333 1113

Legends

of photography

T

herearetimeswhen

wecanrisktaking

majormilestones

inphotography

forgranted.Lookingback

now,it’sdifficulttotruly

appreciatejustwhyit is,for

example,JohnBulmer’scolour

reportagecapturingthenorth

ofEngland– publishedinthe

SundayTimesMagazinein

1965 – wassogroundbreaking.

Thoseimagesweresomeof

thefirstoftheirkindand

helpedtoalterhowweview

documentary photography.

Sam

Haskins

Suchis thecasehere.This

beautifulimageis fromthe

bookCowboyKateandOther

Stories, publishedin1964.Yet

youwouldn’tknowfromsimple

observancethattheimageis

oneofa setthatwasthefirst

ofitskind.Theimageis by

SamHaskins(1926-2009).

Haskinswasanadvertising

photographerinJohannesburg

inthe1950s.Heworked

tirelesslytodevelophisstyle

andhisfirstbook,FiveGirls,

waspublishedin1962.Inthat

book, he experimented with

theOldWest,seekingjustice.

Wecantracea journey.

Effectively,wereadthebook.

Noonehaddonethisbefore,

andafterCowboyKateand

OtherStories, photobookswere

neverthesameagain.

Insubsequentyears,Haskins

continuedtoexperiment

withthepresentationaland

technicalfieldsofhiscraft,but

CowboyKateremainshisgreat

achievement.It openedthe

doortophotographersand

challengedthemtogobeyond

singleimages.It forcedthem

touptheirgameandcreate

miniatureworlds.Heshowed

howwecouldreadphotobooks

inthewaywereadprose.He

showedtheiralmostcinematic

potential.Thefactis,thereare

photobooksbeforeSam

Haskinsandthenthereare

photobooksafterSam

Haskins.That’swhere

therealsignificancelies.

ThephotostoryCowboyKatehas

gainedcultstatusovertheyears,with

good reason, writesOliver Atwell

black& whitenudefemale

photography,methodsof

printingandcropping,andthe

waysthedesignofthebook

couldbea thinguntoitself.The

bookwasconcernednotonly

withtheimagesbutalsowith

themediumandformatin

whichtheyweredisseminated.

ThatbringsusontoCowboy

KateandOtherStories. Tw o

thingsaresignificanthere.

Firstis theuseofgrain.The

imagesareswimminginit.

Haskinswasoneofthefirst

photographerstousegrainas

a creativetool.Thegrainis not

anaccident.It is therebecause

hewantsit theretogivehis

imagestextureanddynamism.

Theimagesfeelaliveasa result.

Theyfeeltangible.Maybeeven

likethey’removing.

Second,CowboyKate

changedthelandscapeof

photographybooksinthatit

consistsofa fictionalnarrative.

CowboyKateis a character

whooccupiesthepages.

Througha seriesofportraits,

nudesandavant-garde

silhouettes, she moves through

© SAM HASKINS ESTATE, 2019

© SAM HASKINS ESTATE, 2019

A shotfromHaskins’

groundbreaking

book,CowboyKate

and Other Stories

‘CowboyKateandOtherStories’runsat

AtlasGallery, 49 DorsetSt,LondonW1U7NF,

until 16 November.Free.Formoredetails,

visitwww.atlasgallery.com.