INTRO
Portraits have long been a vehicle for showing the values and social class of their subjects, from Old Master portraits like van Eyk's famous Arnolfini Wedding to the August Sander photos of workers with their tools. In this simultaneously profound and amusing book, influential German artist Valentina Seidel photographed artists, designers and others from the art world in settings they themselves selected, with objects that had personal meaning. By allowing the subjects some
control of the portraits, Seidel creates photographs that tell uncommon and intimate stories.
These beautifully reproduced full-color photographs make a remarkable statement about human values.In 'Exchange,' a project commenced in 2000, Valentina Seidel investigates which iconographies artists preferably utilize in photographic representations (of themselves).(…) She does not determine the places and poses on the photographs, but gives them the opportunity and inspiration to show themselves in their respective ambience. (Wolfgang Ullrich)
Valentina Seidel, Wolfgang Ullrich. Exchange - Portraits with Artists. Fotohof, 2009. ISBN: 9783901756948