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Keeping Time: The Photographs of Don Hunstein

by Jon Pareles
Hunstein, Don (photos) & (text). Insight Editions. 2013. 224p. ed. by Leo Sacks. photos. notes. ISBN 9781608872244. $60. PHOTOG
COPY ISBN
It is rare that a coffee-table book would seem too short. But with every image captured by record label photographer Hunstein in this volume, you'll want more: more shots of a pensive, nervous Aretha Franklin; more outtakes from The Freewheeling Bob Dylan cover shoot; more of Miles Davis looking self-aware in a mink coat; and extra images of Billie Holiday during a recording session. New York Times music critic Pareles skillfully curates the archival photos by Hunstein, who silently documented the art of creation before "selfies" and branding. The images reveal the evolution of access and image in pop culture: musicians who were snapped in awkward poses before the fame and those who preened after it, never to be caught candid again. It's as good a meditation on pop music and pop culture as is likely to be released this year.
VERDICT Fine arts librarians and special collections archivists may find this a worthwhile complementary research tool; it's also an entertaining browse through history.
Reviewed by Stacie Williams, Lexington P.L., KY , Dec 01, 2013
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