All photos © Ed Panar.

While exploring the streets and back roads of North America, Pittsburgh based photographer Ed Panar has sometimes found himself unexpectedly confronted by other beings. For a moment, eye contact is made and a kind of mutual recognition is felt. Animals That Saw Me, published by The Ice Plant, is a quiet and often hilarious series of photographs pulled from his archive spanning 17 years recording some of his most unexpected encounters with the nonhuman world. A meditation on the uncanny moment of acknowledgement between species, the photographs in Animals That Saw Me reminds us that we must appear at least as strange to them as they do to us. – courtesy The Ice Plant.

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All photos © Seth Kushner.

In Leaping Tall Buildings: The Origins of American Comics, just published by powerHouse Books, photographer Seth Kushner has captured the creators of such classic comic book figures as Spider-Man, Captain America and Fantastic Four. Kushner, a New York City environmental portrait photographer,  and writer Christopher Irving co-founded the web site Graphic NYC. They expanded the site into their book, which traces the story of the comic book from the late 1930s to modern-day graphic novels and memoirs through interviews, photos and reproductions of original sketches and panels.  Excelsior! (more…)

All photos © Estate of Dare Wright/Courtesy Fred Torres Collaborations

The peculiar, haunting photos Dare Wright created to illustrate her 1957 children’s book, The Lonely Doll, have attracted fans such as photographers Cindy Sherman, Laurie Simmons and David LaChapelle. Wright created an entire world and narrative around her doll, who is befriended by two stuffed bears. The story of Edith, who “lived in a nice house and had everything she needed except somebody to play with” echoes Wright’s own sometimes isolated childhood. More than 30 images Wright created for the book are now on view at Fred Torres Collaborations in New York through April 28.

Photo above: “‘I hate rain,’ Edith grumbled crossly. ‘Why couldn’t Mr. Bear take us with him? There’s nothing for us to play indoors.’ ‘We’ll find something,’ said Little Bear. ‘Come on, let’s explore the house.’”

Dare Wright, the daughter of portrait artist Edith Stevenson Wright (yes: her mother and her doll shared the same name), was born in Ontario, raised in Cleveland and moved to New York City in her 20s. She authored 21 books, all featuring her black-and-white photos. She died in 2001. More information on her life and critical appraisal of her books can be the artist’s page on the Fred Torres web site.

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Herb Ritts, Richard Gere – Poolside, 1982, C-type print, Courtesy of the Herb Ritts Foundation, Los Angeles © Herb Ritts Foundation

Southern California’s swimming pool culture is the subject of a new photography book, Backyard Oasis: The Swimming Pool in Southern California, 1945–1982 (DelMonico Books, $60), which features work by photographers and artists like Bill Anderson, John Baldessari, Ruth Bernhard, David Hockney, Ed Ruscha, Julius Schulman and Larry Sultan. The book serves as a catalogue for an exhibition of the same name that is currently showing through May 27 at the Palm Springs Art Museum in California. The book and exhibition document the private swimming pool’s rise in popularity as suburban communities grew following World War II, and also consider the pool as an icon of Hollywood and celebrity culture; as an architectural element; and as a symbol of wealth and status. (more…)

All photos © Alex MacNaughton. Above: Justin O’Grady, age 21.

Alex MacNaughton decided to create his new book London Tattoos (Prestel), because he felt previous books on tattoos were overly stylized and told readers very little about the people who wore the artwork. “Quite often the people bearing the tattoos couldn’t be recognized as individuals,” MacNaughton says. London Tattoos on the other hand, was shot and presented in a clean, minimalist style, and the first photograph of each subject presented in the book is pulled back, showing them in their everyday clothing, which often hides their elaborate body art. MacNaughton also includes several details showing the tattoos close-up, and short quotes from subjects about their tattoos, what they mean to them, and what they think about the culture surrounding tattoos, provide further background. (more…)