Some Things You Should Have Told Me
Harvey Benge
Dewi Lewis
Hardcover
80 pages
170 x 220 mm
2013
ISBN 9781907893391
William Eggleston once asked Harvey Benge – ‘What are you doing these days?’ ‘Photographing the urban social landscape’, said Benge. ‘Don’t talk bullshit; what are you doing?’ Eggleston insisted. ‘Making strange pictures in cities’, replied Benge.
However you look at them, Harvey Benge’s photographs are mostly urban and generally strange. His work is mysterious; nothing is solid. The pictures capture contrasts and conflicts which leave you wondering what has just happened and what might happen next. He gives voice to the mundane and overlooked. His open-ended photographic sequences record small moments of everyday life that flash past with tension and ambiguity: an urban dream on the edge of reality where figures retreat, seats are empty, phones don’t work. Any and every interpretation is a valid interpretation. What is going on? You decide.
With photographs made in Paris, London, New York and Rome, this new intensely personal, some might say autobiographical book, is enigmatically entitled Some Things You Should Have Told Me. It is a remorseless meditation on loss and misadventure, pain and impermanence, the inevitability of change. Questions are asked; there are no answers.
About the Artist
Harvey Benge (1944–2019) was a prolific photographer and committed maker of photobooks. Working between Auckland and Paris he published over 70 titles, often in the form of limited editions. Publishers included Dewi Lewis in the UK, Kehrer Verlag in Germany and Super Labo in Japan, as well as Benge’s own imprint FAQ Editions. His photographs have also been shown in public and private galleries in the UK and throughout Europe as well as in New Zealand. He has twice been a finalist in the prestigious Prix du Livre at Arles Photography Festival, France.
harveybenge.com
(source: https://www.harveybenge.com/about)
About the Publisher
Dewi Lewis Publishing is a partnership owned and run by Caroline Warhurst and Dewi Lewis. Founded in 1994, its photography list has an international reputation and has included books by leading British and international photographers such as William Klein, Martin Parr, Simon Norfolk, Fay Godwin, Tom Wood, Sergio Larrain, Frank Horvat, John Blakemore, Paolo Pelegrin and Bruce Gilden. The aim of the company is to bring to the attention of a wider public, accessible but challenging contemporary photography by both established and lesser known practitioners. The company has a worldwide distribution network and is recognised as one of the leading photographic publishers in the world.
dwilewis.com
(source: https://www.dewilewis.com/pages/about-us)
