In this appealing book, acclaimed photographer Ralph Gibson offers more than sixty intimate black-and-white portraits of guitar masters playing their instruments. Focusing his expert lens on musicians who have lent their unmistakable voices to virtually every musical genre―jazz, funk, rock, acoustic, blues, fusion, classical, and experimental―Gibson reveals in each photograph the intense relationship of the player with his beloved “axe.” The musicians in turn offer individual meditations on the guitar and insights into the passion they share for it.
State of the Axe features guitarists across several generations, from early jazz greats to hip modern rockers, as they play their widely varied guitars, including traditional six-strings, double necks, ten-strings, and fretless models. Gibson’s images capture the enduring appeal of the instrument and the intense, often rapturous expressions of those who pick, strum, amp, bottleneck, and bow the axe. Fusing his own passions for photography and music, Gibson generates a rhythm of words and images that creates a compelling view of the “state of the axe” today.
Among the featured artists:
Adrian Belew
Nels Cline
Jim Hall
Mary Halvorson
Allan Holdsworth
Bill Frisell
John McGlaughlin
Lou Reed
John Scofield
Mike Stern
Andy Summers
James Blood Ulmer

State of the Axe: Guitar Masters in Photographs and Words

Arts & Photography

Gibson, Ralph

Individual Artists

Museum of Fine Arts, Houston

pp.322, previous owners inscription on title page

Social History of French Catholicism, 1789-1914 (Christianity and Society in the Modern World)

History

Routledge& Kegan Paul

The guitar is more than a musical instrument. It is an archetype. In homage, Light Strings brings together two masters of their craft: photographer Ralph Gibson and former guitarist for the Police, Andy Summers. Gibson's enigmatic and sensuously elegant photographs are the visual counterpart to Summers' lyrical history and thoughtful exploration of the instrument's features. Together they create a unique poetic meditation on the guitar. Both artists pay attention to the form of the guitar and its relationship to the body; its curves echo the human figure, not only requiring it to be cradled to play it, but inviting a study of its own sumptuous anatomy. With over one hundred alluring images that capture the graceful details of the instrument, Light Strings is the book for every guitar player.

Light Strings: Impressions of the Guitar

Summers, Andy.

Photography & Video

Chronicle Books+

L'Anonyme

Gibson, R.

Aperture Direct

Tropism

Collects a wide range of works by the American photographer from 1960 to 1986

Aperture

Collects a wide range of works by the American photographer from 1960 to 1986

L'Histoire France Pa

GIBSON

Photographs of architectural details, people, and still lifes capture the artist's impressions of France

L'Histoire De France

Collections, Catalogs & Exhibitions

Ralph Gibson has carried on a lifelong love affair with France, passionately observing and recording the country's character through its most intimate details. Now, in The Spirit of Burgundy, the photographer gives us his unforgettable chronicle of a year in one of France's most culturally rich and visually stunning regions. A woman's profile, fleetingly glimpsed; the rugged tapestry of vineyards and the chance combination of colors at a Dijon festival; gleaming necklaces and the heel of a shoe; the shape of a wine bottle and the sensuous pattern of lace curtains - the images in The Spirit of Burgundy capture the essence of their setting. In 86 color and 68 black-and-white duotone photographs, Gibson celebrates Burgundy. Local cuisine, architecture, customs, wine cultivation, landscape, and the Burgundians themselves are ongoing visual themes that produce a witty portrait: sensual but never sentimental, both stark and lush, earthy and enigmatic.

Spirit of Burgundy

The photographer's unique perspective for looking at people and ordinary objects in the environment is revealed in a collection of his work

Deja-Vu

Lustrum Press

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Gibson, Ralph. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Gibson, Ralph

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Gibson, Ralph. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

State of the Axe: Guitar Masters in Photographs and Words

Social History of French Catholicism, 1789-1914 (Christianity and Society in the Modern World)

Light Strings: Impressions of the Guitar

L'Anonyme

Tropism

Tropism

L'Histoire France Pa

L'Histoire De France

Spirit of Burgundy

Deja-Vu