Evidence.

By Larry Sultan and Mike Mandel. Contribution by Robert F. Forth and Sandra S. Phillips.

D.A.P., 2024. 92 pp., 86 illustrations, 9¼x10".

Books with prints arriving the week of November 25th!

Exclusive photo-eye offer of Evidence with 5x7 pigment ink print of the image shown below! Signed on verso by Mike Mandel and stamped by the Estate of Larry Sultan with authenticated signature by Kelly Sultan, director of the estate.

One of the great photobooks of the 20th Century is now available once again. We're excited to offer this exclusive print option signed by Mike Mandel and stamped by the estate of Larry Sultan, with authenticated signature by Kelly Sultan, director of the estate.

"In 1998 Larry and I contacted the agencies that gave us the prints for additional prints to produce a portfolio. At that time we also asked for scans from the original negatives. About half of the agencies responded, but we did not use the negative scans for anything other than archival keeping until I started preparing for this edition.

There are now more generous crops, making more of the images visible, and the quality from the negative scans is significantly better, sharper and with more tonal range, than the earlier editions. In addition, I have reprocessed the remaining scans. I made match prints to enable the printers to achieve a uniform quality tonal rendition of the each image, and I was on press to supervise. Consequently, this version of Evidence is the definitive edition. The uniform quality of the printing is 100% better than any previous one."

— Mike Mandel

In 1977, American photographers Larry Sultan (1946–2009) and Mike Mandel (born 1950) published a book of photographs titled Evidence. The book was the culmination of a two-year search through the archives of 77 government agencies, educational institutions and corporations, including General Atomic Company, Jet Propulsion Laboratories, the San Jose Police Department and the United States Department of the Interior. The original pictures were made as objective records of activities unfamiliar to the lay public: the scenes of crimes, aeronautical engineering tests, industrial experiments and other subjects. Sifting through some two million images, Mandel and Sultan assembled a careful sequence of 59 pictures. The book was thoughtfully designed to depict the photographs in terms of their “documentary” origins, unaccompanied by identifying captions. Faced with a world of mysterious events and unfathomable activities, the reader is confronted with only the sequential narrative imagery of the book and thus must actively participate in creating its meaning.

Following a revised edition of the book in 2003 and a 2017 reprint—both of which sold out quickly and have become highly collectible—Evidence is back in print nearly 50 years after its initial publication. This new, definitive edition features revelatory new scans—many made from the original negatives—which greatly enhance the eerie objectivity conveyed by the book’s title. In many cases, the original negatives revealed that crops had been made to the image by the agencies; the complete images are restored here. The jacketless, library-style binding of the original 1977 edition is also restored, further underscoring its impersonal documentlike character and its canonical status.

Ordering Information

This item is currently not-yet-published, however you may preorder it through photo-eye

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Cat# DU818H Hardbound $49.95 (978-1-63681-699-9)
Pre-order this item, due November 2024. More Info

Cat# DU818H Hardbound [PRINT] $139.95 (978-1-63681-699-9)
Pre-order this item, due November 2024. More Info

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