Fred Herzog

The city Fred Herzog documented over more than half a century has vanished-an early kind of urban flaneur, Herzog wandered the streets of Vancouver, creating an archive that encapsulates the essence of a bygone era. Considered today as one of the most important street photographers of the 20th century, he changed the international conversation about early color photography. However, it was only in the late 1950s that he decided to primarily shoot with Kodachrome color slides. Fred Herzog: Black and White is the first acknowledgement of a lesser-known facet of the photographers' work. Complementing the seminal Modern Color, it encompasses almost graphical urban scenes of shadow and light, alongside travel photographs and depictions of rural life. Evoking notions of melancholy, this book reveals that Herzog's appeal lies in his ability to seize a condensation of a psychological state.

Together, the photographs form a tender portrait of the old-world Vancouver that Herzog first fell for.--Baya Simons "Financial Times: How To Spend It"

FRED HERZOG (1930-2019) grew up in Stuttgart. In 1953 he settled in Vancouver, where he worked as a medical photographer. A pioneer of color photography, he was already in his 70s, when printing technology finally allowed him to recreate the texture and depth of his Kodachrome color slides. His first solo show at the Vancouver Art Gallery in 2007, gained him widespread international recognition.

Flaneur with a camera: Herzog's melancholy early work is a love letter to a bygone Vancouver Fred Herzog roamed the streets of Vancouver to create a portrait of his adopted hometown in chance scenarios and spontaneous acts of perception. Today his work is among the most important examples of early color photography. But Herzog did not decide to work almost exclusively with Kodachrome slide color film until the late 1950s. Fred Herzog: Black and White is the first appreciation of a lesser-known facet of the photographer's work. Complementing the landmark publication of Modern Color in 2017, the volume brings together his sumptuous arrangements of light and shadow, and moments of life outside the city. The early black-and-white photographs evoke a sense of melancholy, not nostalgia, showing that the appeal of Herzog's work lies in his flair for condensing a psychological state. Fred Herzog (1930-2019) arrived in Vancouver from Germany in 1953. Professionally employed as a medical photographer, he spent his evenings and weekends photographing the city and its inhabitants in vibrant color. Though he was working prolifically from the 1950s on, Herzog was relatively unknown until a major retrospective at the Vancouver Art Gallery in 2007 brought his work to a wider public. Digital inkjet printing enabled Herzog to finally make satisfactory prints from his slides and exhibit his important early color street photography.

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