Bringing together more than 70 photographs from the past ten years, this luxurious volume includes Learoyd's (born 1966) widely acclaimed portraits of clothed or nude models, made with the massive camera obscura that he built in his studio, which produces grainless, one-of-a-kind, color photographs. As Sandra S. Phillips writes about these portraits, "There is something incontrovertibly present in the people he photographs; they are more alive, more beautiful, and more fallible--even more vulnerable--than the people we see in most pictures.
Also featured here are landscapes made in California, England and Spain, as well as still lifes of animals and flowers. Presenting the highlights of Learoyd's career, and organized in reverse chronological order, this volume shows how Learoyd's images are rooted in the history of art, but were made with the clear intention of challenging the authority of painting.