MemyselfandI：Photographic Portraits of Picasso

AlmostallofthegreattwentiethcenturyportraitistsphotographedPabloPicasso,includingCecilBeaton,HenriCartier-Bresson,RobertDoisneau,ManRay,IrvingPenn,andLeeMiller.Picassowasoneofthemostfrequentlyphotographedcelebritiesofthelastcentury,asthesestagedportraits,classicsittings,andsnapshotsprove.ThisopulentlyillustratedvolumeisthefirsttoexaminethetenserelationshipbetweenPicasso’swishtocontrolthepresentationofhispublicpersonaandtheambitionsandideasofthefamousphotographers.Picassobecomestheexampleforaninvestigationintowhatkindofroletheportraitoftheartistplaysinshapinghismyth.WhilesomeofthephotographerswerecommissionedbyPicassohimself,wereevenfriendswithhim,theyconsideredthemselvesautonomousartists.Lastbutnotleast,thebookexaminesthequestionofif(andtowhatextent)eachofthephotographicvisualvocabularieswascapableofassertingitselfagainstthedomineeringpresenceofthecentury’smostfamousartist.