Twenty Five Years of an Artist
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Twenty Five Years of an Artist is a photography book looking at the long career of David Hamilton. The book, 316 pages in length, includes both photographs, and 20 pages of text, scattered between the pictures.
The text is written by Philippe Gautier based on his discussions and interviews with Mr Hamilton. The introduction contrasts the year 1992 artistic climate to the early 1970's when Hamilton's first book was published, the text starts from Hamilton's childhood, and proceeds chronologically through his career in a fairly prosaic manner, but including also much subjective content. The latter half of the text is more personal, discussing Hamilton's outlook on his art and life, including an explanation for his fascination with young girls, which the majority of his photography expresses.
Much of the photography covers Hamilton's familiar themes of young girls, clothed and not, prepubescent and older. Half of the rest covers his other subject matter: landscapes, cityscapes, flowers, and other still lifes. The final one fourth document Hamilton's life, showing him with his models and other important people whom he has known and worked with.