“THIS MOMENT CAN DISAPPEAR AT ANY SECOND”: INSCRIBED BY BECKER BENEATH HIS TRADEMARK SKETCH

BECKER, Olaf Otto. Unter dem Licht des Nordens. Under the Nordic Light. (Köln: Schaden, 2005). Oblong quarto, original gray cloth, color photographic plate mounted to front board. $400.

First edition of Becker’s acclaimed photobook, boldly inscribed by him on the title page beneath his trademark sketch, this one possibly that of a remote shutter release hovering at the right edge of the page, featuring 23 pristine color plates of primeval landscapes, glaciers, waterfalls and shorelines.

Trained as a painter, Olaf Becker spent four years covering more than 11,000 miles of Iceland to produce this superb photobook, often waiting days to capture these images, mostly taken at night, using a large format camera with long exposures that fully convey the special qualities of northern light. Short-listed for the prestigious 2006 Rencontres d’Arles Book Award, Unter dem Licht contains 23 luminous color plates of pristine waterfalls, mountain glaciers and haunting shorelines, as well as industrial images of ports, quarries and towering dams. Published in conjunction with an exhibit in the Rotonda Cologne as part of the Islandbilder festival Köln 2005. Interview with Becker, text in German and English. As issued without dust jacket.

A fine inscribed copy.