One of only two prints
African Image is in many ways the forgotten masterpiece amongst Sam’s books from the 60’s. The public was simply less interested in the visual magic of tribal Africa than in Sam’s figure book trilogy. Nonetheless the book did win an award at the Israeli Museum’s International Art Book Competition in 1969 and is coveted by collectors of African art. African Image is the high point of Sam’s radical approach to photo book design and a masterclass in photographing ethnic culture, portraiture, landscape and sculpture. This print features a sculpture by an artist, Thomas Ona, who was widely known, including with experts at the British Museum, for his satirical caricatures of English Colonial figures. The sculpture is in the collection of the Natal Museum in South Africa. Ona was from the Ijebu a sub-tribe of the Yoruba (Southwestern region of Nigeria).
African Image prints are very special, not just because the photography and design are powerful, the printing is sumptuous and the prints are super rare but because there was a unique poetic passion about this project, completed roughly a year before he left Johannesburg for London in 1968. Sam described ‘African Image’ as his parting love letter to Africa, To create the book he drove thousands of miles alone, mostly on dirt roards, through Sub-Saharan Africa, in the process writing off two Volvo cars. In my view it is the greatest book of Sam’s career.
“...indescribable levels of mutual metaphor and time-overlay”A description of 'African Image' (1967) from the book 'Art and Time' By Philip S.Rawson, Piers B. Rawson, Published by Fairleigh Dickinson Univ Press, 2005Print Specs: This is a beautiful print, slightly larger than the estate’s standard vintage size at 16.25” x 15.45” (41.30m x 39.25cm). A Vintage silver gelatin print, produced by Sam in-house in 1966. Sam always did his own B&W printing for his personal creative projects.
Condition: The print is in very good condition. It has been retouched in-house. There are some slight surface sctratches which are commensurate with age and handling.
Rarity: There are only two known copies of this print both in the archive and never previously offered for sale. They are almost identical with a very slight difference in darkroom exposure levels. Both are collectible grade.
Unique Offer: Every buyer of our vintage silver gelatin prints receives a contemporary copy of the same print entirely for free with a view to making ownership more flexible. These prints which we normally sell for $1,350 occasionally come onto the secondary market for up to double or more that price. They are meticulously retouched and printed in-house on museum grade Hahnemühle Photo Rag Baryta paper. The scale is the same as our estate standard size inkjet prints which are 24 inches (61.0cm) on the long axis.
Provenance: All prints sold by the estate including vintage and posthumous works are accompanied by detailed certificates of provenance which we call PIN (Print Identification Number) Certificates. The prints and the certificates are connected by a unique five figure hand written number on the reverse which is photographed and reproduced on the certificates. To the best of our knowledge this system is unmmatched in the industry.
Shipping and Tariffs: All prints in the archive ship for free including packing and insurance. Our USA clients are routinely subject to little or no tariffs.
Assistance with Collecting: The best way to get a super personalised service with generous support in every sense is to contact me directly ludwig@haskins.com
Sourcing the Book: Secondhand copies of African Image can be found through Abebooks, here’s the link for African Image. The estate have a handful of pristine copies untouched in the publishers wrapping from 1967. See the books section of this site.
One of only two prints
African Image is in many ways the forgotten masterpiece amongst Sam’s books from the 60’s. The public was simply less interested in the visual magic of tribal Africa than in Sam’s figure book trilogy. Nonetheless the book did win an award at the Israeli Museum’s International Art Book Competition in 1969 and is coveted by collectors of African art. African Image is the high point of Sam’s radical approach to photo book design and a masterclass in photographing ethnic culture, portraiture, landscape and sculpture. This print features a sculpture by an artist, Thomas Ona, who was widely known, including with experts at the British Museum, for his satirical caricatures of English Colonial figures. The sculpture is in the collection of the Natal Museum in South Africa. Ona was from the Ijebu a sub-tribe of the Yoruba (Southwestern region of Nigeria).
African Image prints are very special, not just because the photography and design are powerful, the printing is sumptuous and the prints are super rare but because there was a unique poetic passion about this project, completed roughly a year before he left Johannesburg for London in 1968. Sam described ‘African Image’ as his parting love letter to Africa, To create the book he drove thousands of miles alone, mostly on dirt roards, through Sub-Saharan Africa, in the process writing off two Volvo cars. In my view it is the greatest book of Sam’s career.
“...indescribable levels of mutual metaphor and time-overlay”A description of 'African Image' (1967) from the book 'Art and Time' By Philip S.Rawson, Piers B. Rawson, Published by Fairleigh Dickinson Univ Press, 2005Print Specs: This is a beautiful print, slightly larger than the estate’s standard vintage size at 16.25” x 15.45” (41.30m x 39.25cm). A Vintage silver gelatin print, produced by Sam in-house in 1966. Sam always did his own B&W printing for his personal creative projects.
Condition: The print is in very good condition. It has been retouched in-house. There are some slight surface sctratches which are commensurate with age and handling.
Rarity: There are only two known copies of this print both in the archive and never previously offered for sale. They are almost identical with a very slight difference in darkroom exposure levels. Both are collectible grade.
Unique Offer: Every buyer of our vintage silver gelatin prints receives a contemporary copy of the same print entirely for free with a view to making ownership more flexible. These prints which we normally sell for $1,350 occasionally come onto the secondary market for up to double or more that price. They are meticulously retouched and printed in-house on museum grade Hahnemühle Photo Rag Baryta paper. The scale is the same as our estate standard size inkjet prints which are 24 inches (61.0cm) on the long axis.
Provenance: All prints sold by the estate including vintage and posthumous works are accompanied by detailed certificates of provenance which we call PIN (Print Identification Number) Certificates. The prints and the certificates are connected by a unique five figure hand written number on the reverse which is photographed and reproduced on the certificates. To the best of our knowledge this system is unmmatched in the industry.
Shipping and Tariffs: All prints in the archive ship for free including packing and insurance. Our USA clients are routinely subject to little or no tariffs.
Assistance with Collecting: The best way to get a super personalised service with generous support in every sense is to contact me directly ludwig@haskins.com
Sourcing the Book: Secondhand copies of African Image can be found through Abebooks, here’s the link for African Image. The estate have a handful of pristine copies untouched in the publishers wrapping from 1967. See the books section of this site.