Description: New York-based photographer Henry Leutwyler's new book Document examines humble objects from iconic moments such as the first moonwalk, political assassinations or episodes in the lives of musicians, artists and athletes. Ten years in the making, Document is essentially a collection of portraits of things: Mahatma Gandhi's sandal, Alan Shepard's golf club, Janis Joplin's acoustic guitar, Jack Ruby's handgun. Leutwyler shows us these objects close up--straight on and without backdrop--in a style that is equal parts still life, portraiture and crime-scene photography.
Though isolated from their contexts and owners, these objects are the testaments of bodily histories, the traces of personalities and the stuff of our collective memory. Document invites us to engage with our "icons" in wholly new ways, and to see our history differently, through the unexpected emotional charge of singular objects.Review Quotes: Though he's best known as a celebrity photographer, his photographs in Document showcase a different iteration of his minimalist style. Rather than celebrities, the pages of this book are filled with interesting objects owned by intriguing people from history, pop culture, the arts, and sports. The result is an encompassing and unconventional collection of images ranging from Mohandas Gandhi's wire-frame spectacles to Bob Marley's charred-black first guitar to Julia Child's madeleine baking tray. Seemingly ordinary items assume added significance when their owners' identities are revealed.--Jeff Campagna "Smithsonian"