PAUL ICKOVIC: IN TRANSIT by Ickovic, Paul (Photographer); Ungerer, Kathryn & Griffith, Patricia (Contributors) - 1977

Boston, MA: Odeon Editions, 1977. First Edition. First Printing.. Hardcover. Fine/Fine Dust Jacket.. Boston, MA: Odeon Editions, 1977. Hardcover. Fine/Fine. First Edition/First Printing. Unpaginated. The photographer's breakthrough debut collection. The first and only edition. Published in a small and limited print run as a hardcover original only. The First Edition is now scarce. A brilliant production by Larry Webster: Oversize-volume format. Brown cloth boards with gilt titles embossed on spine, as issued. Photographs by Paul Ickovic. Essays by Kathryn Ungerer and Patricia Griffith. Printed on pristine-white, thick coated stock paper in the United States to the highest standards. In pictorial DJ with white and black titles on the cover and spine, as issued. Presents Paul Ickovic's "In Transit". One of the most riveting collections of images of people in transit: Passengers on trains, at the train station, in buses, at the bus station, in terminal cafes and restaurants, parks, streets, and in their cars. The subjects were photographed very simply, either standing, walking, or sitting down. The photographs were taken in a wide variety of places: Paris, New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore, New Orleans, Zagreb, Copenhagen, and Cannes, unmistakably demonstrating that the photographer is above all, a traveller-par-excellence, perpetually "in transit". Born in the United Kingdom to Czech parents, Paul Ickovic returned to his homeland as a boy, only to leave again for Canada and Latin America before finally moving to the United States, where he acquired his education and found his calling as a photographer. His very name underwent several transformations in the process: His birth name was Pavel, which became Pablo, and finally, Paul. Given his extremely peripatetic childhood, it is not surprising that Ickovic became a photographer. He practically spent his whole life preparing for his chosen career. Ostensibly about other people on the move, "In Transit" is in fact, Ickovic's brilliant metaphor about himself and all other photographers: They are all travellers, every single one of them. It doesn't just come with the territory; the urge comes from very deep within. We all have only one life to live, but yearn for at least two, the other being the exact opposite of the one we were handed by fate and circumstance. Hence, in Paul Ickovic's case, his Czech roots and heritage (what keeps him "in place") have become his principal subject and resulted in "Kafka's Grave And Other Stories" as well as two other books, "Prague Portfolio" and "Safe Conduct". An absolute "must-have" title for Paul Ickovic collectors. <b><i> This copy is very prominently and beautifully signed in black ink-pen on the title page by Paul Ickovic. It is signed directly on the page itself, not on a tipped-in page. This title is a contemporary photography classic. This is one of few such signed copies of the First Hardcover Edition/First Printing still available online and despite its imperfection (slight wear on the DJ spine and corners) is still in especially fine condition: Every single internal page is clean, crisp, and bright. The cloth boards are sharp, NO bumping at all. Please note: Copies available online have serious flaws or are remainder-marked. This is surely an accessible and lovely alternative. A rare signed copy thus. </b></i> 52 duotone plates. One of the finest photographers of our time. A fine copy. . ISBN 0930746015.