Radical Eye: Modernist Photography from the Sir Elton John Collection

Radical Eye: Modernist Photography from the Sir Elton John Collection presents an extraordinary body of international modernist photography amassed by Elton John since 1991. His remarkable collection, driven by a personal passion for the art form, includes over two thousand photographs featuring key figures from Europe and America, as well as notable photographers from Japan, Eastern Europe, and Latin America.

This book showcases the finest works from 1920 to 1950, a period widely regarded as photography's 'coming of age'. It was a time of great experimentation and innovation when artists pushed the boundaries of the medium. "New Vision" is a term coined by Laszlo Moholy-Nagy in the mid-1920s, describing how photography could offer a modern perspective on the world. The advent of new technologies allowed artists the freedom to experiment and document, resulting in developments like photograms, typographics, and the bird's- and worm's-eye views.

This era also saw key avant-garde movements such as dada, surrealism, the Bauhaus, and Russian constructivism, where photography played a central role. With over 150 illustrations, the book includes an interview with Elton John discussing the motivations behind his collecting, alongside essays exploring the photographs within the history of modernism and the impact of technical innovations on the form.

Radical Eye: Modernist Photography from the Sir Elton John Collection aims to introduce a new audience to this unique body of work while providing an indispensable resource for those already appreciative of the period.