Accession Number
2010/2.47.4

Title
Perfect Future, from "The Silver Edition, Volume I"

Artist(s)
Ralph Gibson

Artist Nationality
American (North American)

Object Creation Date
1972

Medium & Support
photograph on fiber paper

Dimensions
19 1/16 in x 13 in (48.5 cm x 33 cm)

Credit Line
Gift of Selma and Gerry Lotenberg

Subject matter
Ralph Gibson is well known for publishing his photographs in book form and he created his own company, Lustrum Press, in New York City in 1969.This work is from "Déjà-Vu" (1972), one of the books that established his career as a creative photographer. "I embrace the abstract in photography and exist on a few bits of order, extracted from the chaos of reality. ["Light Years" 1996]

Physical Description
This is a black and white photograph with an elevated point of view. It depicts a thick diagonal white line on pavement with a figure standing on the left beside it. The figure is only partially shown with a dark silhouette, but details of his shoe, placed parallel the to white line, are precise. The figure holds a long thin plank of wood at his side that mimics the diagonal white line.

Primary Object Classification
Photograph

Primary Object Type
black and white print

Collection Area
Photography

Rights
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please visit http://umma.umich.edu/request-image for more information and to fill out the online Image Rights and Reproductions Request Form.

Keywords
figures (representations)
photographs
shoes (footwear)