Contemporary American photographer Gibson is best known for his black-and-white photographs taken in series. In this, his 15th monograph and first in color, each image takes on meaning in the context of the others. Gibson sees fragments--of a wall, a grave, a stairwell, a figure, a fish, a wine bottle. This is not monumental France but rather "the real" France, as Marguerite Duras claims in the introduction--"the Parisian pavement, the nakedness of the earth between the rows of vines; what is never expressed except, rarely, in poetry." In her brief afterword, Annie Cohen-Solal calls Gibson's "history" "a France that has been purified, without paraphrase, without chatter, still and serene . . . the starched toque of a great chef, a yellow line next to a gutter, the curve of a bistro table: Gibson delivers us its essence." Gibson's France is colorful, provocative, and above all unique. Recommended.

- Ann Copeland, Champaign, Ill.

Photography By Ralph Gibson

Introduction By Marguerite Duras