Vicki Goldberg

Jimmy Katz

Leaving the bustle of the music scene of New York City where they now live and work, photographers Jimmy and Dena Katz headed out West to make a personal landscape project in and around the Salt Flats of northern Utah. Standing on the shore of the Great Salt Lake with a stark, almost surreal view stretching ahead, they came upon a trio of plastic pink flamingoes abandoned in the water. Inspired by the odd juxtaposition of the timeless and transient, they circled the lake seeking other such moments, and then pushed on to the Flats. Again and again they discovered human possessions and personal obsessions flung onto the salt surface against undulating mountains and boundless sky. They became intrigued by the inventors who, with their hand-built hotrods, racecars, and rockets, participate in the annual rituals and races on the Salt Flats--"making their own statement in the landscape. The photographs of people and object that the Katz's encountered are collected for the first time in

Salt Dreams

Dena Katz

Working in brilliant color and with a large format camera, photographers Jimmy and Dena Katz spent three seasons following the last authentic traveling side show in America to create this elegy to a uniquely American art form. Their powerful, poignant, and respectful portraits of aging performers and young recruits reveal disappointment, despair, and tenacity played out against the tawdry glitter of the fairground. These images, along with anecdotes and commentary by the performers, are brought together for the first time in World of Wonders. Sword swallowers, fire eaters, freaks, and illusionists have excited generations of Americans. Today, only this one troop persists, led by the legendary Ward Hall and his partner Chris Crist, who mounted multiple extravaganzas for Ringling Brothers more than fifty years ago. As the photographers listened to hard-luck stories and felt the power of hard-lived lives, they were moved by these men and women who continue to perform despite changing times and tastes. The Katzes' widely acclaimed book about the surreal effects of human action on the salt flats of Utah, Salt Dreams (powerHouse Books, 2006), featured images deemed spectacularo by New York Times critic Grace Glueck. With this powerful and unsettling new work, Jimmy and Dena Katz continue to explore the postmodern aesthetics of American subcultures. Born in New York City, photographer Jimmy Katz spent more than a decade based in Utah as a mountaineer and Nordic skier, photographing the desert and mountainous terrain. He often contributed photographs and articles to climbing publications about his expeditions and first ski descents in remote areas of the world. Back in New York, he established himself as a well-known music photographer, shooting over 250 recording projects and more than 60 Jazz magazine covers. Although he lives in New York City, Katz is still closely connected to the American West, where he often finds inspiration for his personal projects.

Jimmy Katz

Books

Your next favorite book is out there