Blind Corners: Essays on Photography

The debut collection of essays from one of Britain's most celebrated photographers. For many years, photographer Michael Collins had wondered what exactly it was that he found so mysterious and compelling about photography. In this series of linked pieces, Collins offers a reappraisal of photographic genres - including the humble and ubiquitous - that he believes are worthy of greater understanding. From restoring abandoned photos, whose subjects are lost to time, to a quotidian history of the studio portrait; from tracing the origins of the photographic survey within the wider field of the history of art to an experiment in portraiture using gorillas, Collins reveals what it is about photography that is so enduringly fascinating.

About the Author :
Michael Collins was the first contemporary art photographer to be exhibited at The British Museum. He was picture editor of the Telegraph magazine, the photography critic for the Daily Telegraph and has written for many publications, including the Guardian, the Financial Times, the Independent and Granta. His most recent book of photography is The Nuclear Sublime. His work has been exhibited in the V&A, the British Museum, the British Library, The Photographers Gallery, Tate Modern, Focal Point Gallery, Southend-on-Sea, Ikon Gallery, Birmingham, Potteries Museum & Art Gallery, Bedford Museum & Art Gallery, Cornerhouse, Manchester, Walter Koening (Serpentine), Whitechapel Gallery and the Martin Parr Foundation, Bristol. Will Self is a writer, he lives in London.

Review :

‘Compelling reading . . . The essays give us pause to consider what it is about photography that humans find so endlessly fascinating.’

'This selection of essays explores and elevates the art of looking in thoughtful and thought-provoking prose.' 

'A wide-ranging and informative book. And it's animated by Collins' evident expertise and love for what he does.' 

'A wonderful read for anyone who has ever picked up a camera or looked closely at a photograph and wondered about its back story. It’s also beautifully presented in this small hardback by Notting Hill Editions. A perfect gift for the photographer in your life.'

'A fascinating exploration of ideas about the craft.'

‘Blind Corners is a book I believe every photographer should own. Not just the pros. Not just the high end amateurs. But everybody who has ever raised a camera or a cell phone with the hope to create an image should at some point have this book, put it in their day bag and carry it with them.’

‘Collins concentrates on some of his favourite pictures, but the essays in Blind Corners are not simple appreciations. The book is part meditation, part polemic . . . In large part, he succeeds in reinvesting photography with some of its original magic. The photographs in the book help. These are interspersed through the text and printed on matte paper, so that the grain is sometimes visible through the image. It’s a nice effect, reminding you of the physicality of the picture . . . Blind Corners is a quiet, somewhat eccentric success.’

‘Collins favours the photograph that has something to say, that doesn’t shout but leaves us, as viewers, to detect the sound behind the silence. . . . he is very good on the magic part of the equation, on what happens when we set off on a quest — an ultimately hopeless quest — to know and understand the world a singular image represents.’