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Steinmetz, Mark (Photographer) & Tucker, Anne Wilkes (Contributor) : The Players: The Deluxe Edition

Nazraeli Press, Tucson, AZ, 2015

ISBN 1590054180

First Edition / First Printing. As New in No Dust Jacket, As Issued. 92 pages. Retrospective collection of black-and-white photographs. One of Mark Steinmetz's finest achievements. Deluxe Clamshell Box Edition of 25 numbered and signed copies. As such, it is one of the smallest limitations by Nazraeli Press. Precedes and should not be confused with the regular trade edition, which has the same ISBN. An austerely elegant production by Mark Steinmetz and Chris Pichler: Oversize-volume format. Khaki cloth boards with photographic reproduction pasted in front and black titles embossed on the cover and spine, as issued. Photographs by Mark Steinmetz. Introductory Essay by Anne Wilkes Tucker. 12 X 10.5 inch original photographic print laid-in. Matching cloth clamshell box. Printed on pristine-white, thick coated stock paper to the highest standards. Without DJ, as issued. Presents, in its ultimate Deluxe Edition format, Mark Steinmetz's "The Players". His most evocative collection. "Photographs of adolescent and teenaged baseball players, on the field and in the dugout, focused on the game and lost in their own worlds. Made between 1986 and 1990, the photographs are classic Steinmetz: Tenderness, humor, and humanism are all present here, as is Steinmetz's exquisite use of natural light and attention to poetic detail. The kids are ages 6 to 13, with a few older boys. Steinmetz must remember how awkward and uncoordinated bodies that age can be. His empathy is evident throughout the series. Most of these kids are too young to have the grace, skill, or concentration required and are too 'green' to experience the sheer pleasure of knowing they are good, maybe really good, ball players in an unforgiving sport. These kids run into each other in pursuit of a fly ball. Hope drives their swings more than their awareness of the art of hitting. Steinmetz concentrates less on the players in the field than those outside the base lines who are waiting to play or cooling off. He observes the managers as well as the spectators who love the game or one of the players or who just have a free afternoon. He sees 'high fives' as well as the 'what were you thinking' moments" (Anne Wilkes Tucker). According to today's great players themselves, every Major League Baseball (MLB) player started out like one of these hopeful and talented kid-dreamers. The photograph of the little boy, his hands clasped together in prayer, is one of Steinmetz's most beautiful images. An absolute "must-have" title for Mark Steinmetz collectors. This copy is one of the Deluxe Clamshell Box Edition of 25 copies, indicated/numbered as such by the publisher. It is very prominently and beautifully signed in black ink-pen on the title page by Mark Steinmetz. It is signed directly on the page itself, not on a tipped-in page. This is the very last, and therefore the most collectible, copy of the Deluxe Edition, indicated/numbered as such on the 12 X 10.5 inch photographic print that is encased in its own protective plastic sleeve. The print is very prominently, neatly, and beautifully numbered and titled in pencil on verso by the photographer: "Mark Steinmetz Jacksonville, Illinois 1988 25/25". This title is a contemporary photography classic. This is one of few copies of the Deluxe Clamshell Box Edition still available online and is in especially fine condition: Clean, crisp, and bright, a pristine beauty. A rare signed copy thus. 73 plates, 1 original print. Mark Steinmetz's "South" Trilogy is now widely regarded as one of the greatest photographic projects of our time. One of the most brilliant photographers of our time. A fine collectible copy. (SEE ALSO OTHER MARK STEINMETZ TITLES IN OUR CATALOG). ISBN 1590054180.

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