A repackaging of the classic book, a collection of essays about life and death by the sole funeral director in Milford, Michigan. The original cover (bottom) might have been a scan of Barbara de Wilde's hand. Twelve years later, Barbara and photographer John Broomfield reshot the cover to update it. (WW Norton, Summer 2009)
correction (?) An anonymous tipster has informed us that "The hand on the original cover was Archie Ferguson's, and was made on an ordinary office scanner the good old low-budget way...For Norton's repackaging there was actually a production budget, and so the image was made by photographer Stephen Lewis."
9 comments:
it's nice to get a second chance...
Love the NBA medallion in foil, but there's something ghostly and primitive about the first shot that resonates with the subject that I miss in the glossier cleaned-up redo.
Somehow reminds me of the Mendelsund cover, kind of a hardcore version. And both came out recently.
http://mendelsund.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.photo&ThisPhoto=402&NextPhoto=56&NavSel=jackets
The hand on the original cover was Archie Ferguson's, and was made on an ordinary office scanner the good old low-budget way.
For Norton's repackaging there was actually a production budget, and so the image was made by photographer Stephen Lewis.
I think I prefer the low budget original though, too.
this whole combination of type/photography is really interesting.
I like the smeared light from the wrist in the new photo, but I think the business card's typography and apparent texture are less believable and affecting than in the original. Interesting that the designer chose to make these small but deliberate changes in what was obviously seen to be an effective cover. I'd love to hear about the discussion that went into the remake.
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