With his focus on the “disagreeable beauty” of the anomalous and the transgressive, Joel-Peter Witkin’s images are edgy and disturbing. Influenced by artists from Giotto to the Surrealists, by daguerreotypes and the work of Bellocq, his portraits and complex tableaux incorporating corpses, hermaphrodites, masks and mutiliation provoke and challenge the viewer.

Warm and witty, Locusts is a book of photographs that, in the words of its creator, Sasha Gusov, ‘pulls together the concept of mass mentality – photographs that examine the way people eat, the tourist eternally behind the camera, the obsession with consumerism … an investigation of contemporary man – who we are, who we have become and how absurd we can be at times.’ The outcome of five years of work and observation around the world, these brief snatches and moments are a true representation of what humanity does when it thinks that no one is looking.

Retail trade has recognized the opportunity of qualification and individualization through high-grade buildings. The trailblazers of outstanding and innovative commercial architecture today are, first of all, the inner city shopping malls and department stores. In many downtowns, modern shopping facilities have been developed as new focal points of attraction. Moreover, these new multi-functional complexes encourage the process of long-term revitalization of the inner cities. The richly illustrated volume, provided with detailed planning material, shows the latest tendencies in shopping architecture worldwide as seen in approximately 100 projects.

«Menswear has evolved from existing in niche markets to procuring mainstream acceptance. With consumers revelling in fashion and the associated lifestyle products, contemporary fashion design for men has become a beacon for masculine identity.Creating this focus is a group of visionaries who have shifted the boundaries of menswear design, designers who have broken with convention to visualize radical and directional clothing. They are not concerned with the formalities and traditions of menswear but see their garments as an expression of contemporary thought. With a huge range of imagery, «Modern Menswear» showcases these radicals in fashion, profiling big names and emerging talent from across the world. Designers profiled include Marc Jacobs, Yohji Yamamoto, Vivienne Westwood and Hedi Slimane of Dior Homme, providing an insight into their design processes and their contribution to the contemporary fashion aesthetic.»

The twilight of Imperial Russia witnessed a sudden renaissance of the visual, literary and performing arts: here was a Silver Age as luminous perhaps as the Golden Age of Russian literature many decades before. Much of this new flowering was indebted to the set of ideas known as Symbolism, which fell on fertile soil in Russia. The Russian Symbolists lived and created on the edge, which often made them to be named 'Decadent' or 'Degenerate'. Yet, as Sergei Diaghilev declared, theirs was not a moral or artistic decline, but a voyage of inner discovery and a refurbishing of a national culture. A dazzling array of artists, writers, composers, actors, singers, dancers and designers are presented here in context, including Tolstoy, Pasternak, Gorky, Akhmatova, Rimsky-Korsakov, Rachmaninov, Nijinsky, Scriabin, Karsavina, Meyerhold, Chaliapin, Stanislavsky, Diaghilev, Roerich, Repin, Serov, Somov, Vrubel, Bakst, Kandinsky, Malevich, Mayakovsky and many more. The book includes a rich repertoire of artworks and vintage documentary photographs, many of which have not been published before. With a clear narrative and comprehensive bibliography, this volume will appeal both to the specialist and to the general student of Russian history and culture.

«The urge to create an individualized shopping experience is a major trend around the world. A new generation of independent shops has grown up. These are mostly small, and are setting up against the odds, so that they have to make an effort with their exteriors, interiors and branding to lure in customers. Some such shops are a triumph of ingenuity on a low budget, while other one-off outlets are as glamorous as their big-name counterparts. Some interiors and graphics are created by professional designers, others by the owners themselves. In fact, this trend is now so widespread that the corporate retailers who sparked the reaction in the first place are getting in on the act, commissioning one-off outlets and short-term guerrilla stores to appeal to a more savvy, funky young clientele. «One-Off» is the first book to address this important retail trend. It covers food, home and lifestyle, fashion and accessories, random gems and pretenders and guerrilla stores.»

«The company Salvatore Ferragamo Italia S.p.A., founded in 1927 by designer Salvatore Ferragamo, is a luxury brand with more than 450 stores in over 55 countries. It sells footwear, handbags and small leather goods, scarves and ties, men's and women's ready-to-wear, bijoux, watches, fragrances and eyewear. Salvatore Ferragamo made the name famous in California, first in Santa Barbara and then in Hollywood, creating footwear for the most beautiful women in the world — the «divas» of emerging American cinema. This book is also the catalogue of an exhibition that took place at the Shanghai Museum of Contemporary Art (29 March-7 May 2008) to celebrate the eighty-year anniversary of the company. Photographs, sketches, and drawings explore design processes and showcase shoes, handbags, and accessories — a magnificent selection of fashion works embodying social and cultural changes over time.»

This is the new, fully revised London edition of the world’s number-one stylish travel series, bringing you up to date with what’s happening in your favourite city. Strikingly photographed, superbly designed and produced, and yet ingeniously practical with easy-to-read maps and pacy, informed texts, each StyleCity volume presents a selective, particular and stylish portrait of a great world city. From off-beat cafés and cutting-edge restaurants to specialized boutiques, the choicest hotels and buzziest neighbourhoods, StyleCity presents all the special places you’ll find only in that city, where both savvy locals and discerning travellers will find a vibrant and idiosyncratic experience.

Paris in the early 1920s saw the growth of a new art form called surrealism. Both a formal movement and a spiritual orientation, surrealism embraced ethics and politics as well as the arts. Surrealists sought to create a medium that liberated the subconcious mind, and many artists and photographers captured this revolution through photographic images. This new survey includes works by Max Ernst, Dora Maar, Lee Miller, René Magritte, Meret Oppenheim and more.

«UNBRIDALED» is a visual primer for the modern bride. An initiative by CRYSTALLIZED⢠â Swarovski Elements, the product brand for loose cut crystal manufactured by Swarovski, the book is the result of an invitation to creative talents around the world to produce a unique, one-off design that will make the modern bride truly shine. This title features fashion designers including John Galliano, Vivienne Westwood, Viktor & Rolf, Vera Wang; jewellery designers Erik Halley, Erickson Beamon, Manik Mercian; headwear by Stephen Jones and Philip Treacy; tableware by Bodo Sperlein, Fredrikson Stallard and Joris Laarman; and furniture by Doshi-Levien, Squint, Linda Florence, Gunjan Gupta. With more than a hundred creatives from around the world, the result is a multi-cultural, cross-discipline, non-denominational assemblage of highly desirable style. A happy marriage of tradition and avant garde, «UNBRIDALED» plunges into the past via age-old techniques, classical references from East and West, venerable houses such as Chiso (Kyoto) or Lemarié (Paris) and surfaces somewhere near the future. Aspirational, inspirational, photographed by image makers normally seen in style bibles such as Vogue, Numéro or Ten, «UNBRIDALED» is a mood board for the bride of today â and tomorrow. The book is a pool of inspiration for all style-savvy brides- and grooms-to-be, as well as for professionals in as manifold areas as fashion, jewellery and interior.»

«The Japanese artist Yasumasa Morimura is a controversial figure in the world of contemporary art. His photographs present an original re-elaboration of themes central to visual culture by showing the artist himself in the role of artistic subjects and historical figures. Morimura reinterprets in particular the works of famous painters, from Velazquez to Goya, Leonardo da Vinci, Rembrandt van Rijn and Frida Kahlo. Ideas central to his photography, such as the difference between «to see» and «to be seen», and the ambiguity of gender in contemporary society — stressed by the artist's preference for the female body, — stimulate thought on political and religious issues. Popular culture is another of Morimura's interests, as shown in his interpretation of Western movie stars like Marilyn Monroe and Brigitte Bardot. Morimura aims to highlight the changing perceptions of his own self, and, at the same time, his ability as an artist to experiment with universal characters. This is the challenge that he presents at his next exhibition in Venice opening during the Biennale. Requiem for the Twentieth Century shows historical twentieth-century figures, from Che Guevara to Mao Tsedong, from Chaplin's Hitler to Vladimir Lenin, caught in moments of fatigue and distress. Among them we find Yukio Mishima — Morimura's own alter ego — who, at the suicidal cry of «Banzai! Banzai! Banzai! Banzai! Long Live Art!» expressed the artist's ultimate sacrifice to art.»

Today classic English style and tailoring enjoy worldwide adulation. And when it comes to top-drawer tailoring, there is nobody quite like Jeremy Hackett. Hackett takes us on a Grand Tour of an appealing world of Bentleys and polo, bicycles and picnics, bow ties and Sussex Spaniels, top hats and bespoke luggage. Along the way, he muses on sartorial codes: why plus twos beat plus fours, the ideal length of sock, the pros and cons of cufflinks and the art of monogramming. Brimming with anecdotes and observations as sharp as his suits – as well as more than a glancing nostalgia for an age when a chap knew how to dress for an occasion – this is a book for those who appreciate the finer things in life.

The definitive book on 1940s fashion in America, Europe, Australasia, and Japan. From French style under the Occupation and the make do and mend approach to wartime clothing shortages through issues of dress, patriotism, and propaganda to the rise of American fashion houses in the postwar period: here is a comprehensive look at the fashions and styles that emerged around the world during the 1940s. During the Second World War, between air raids and ration lines, fashion managed to express ideals of beauty, femininity, and luxury even though patriotic and practical considerations came first. The vivid text by renowned fashion specialist Jonathan Walford details how fashion was considered not a frivolity but an aesthetic expression of circumstances in the 1940s. While Fascist states tried to create national styles before the war began, by 1940 the pursuit of beauty was promoted on both sides of the conflict as a patriotic duty. From prewar to postwar, international attitudes emerge from period advertisements, images of real clothes, and firsthand accounts in contemporary publications. The result is a glorious celebration of everything from practical and smart-looking attire for air raids (hooded capes with large pockets and zippered jumpsuits) to street fashion and the creation of Christian Dior's New Look collection in 1947. 250 illustrations, 220 in color.

On the streets of the vibrant and anarchic city of Mumbai, the film poster is a familiar splash of color. It is an invitation to the pleasures of Bollywood, the world's largest film industry. This most democratic of art forms meets one of the worlds most exciting cinema industries and the result is an explosion of color, form and typography. Bollywood's film posters have had a long and glorious history that is only now being recognized and noted, and is brilliantly celebrated here in this lavish volume. Bollywood Posters is a must-have for film buffs, graphic designers and art-lovers.

The first book devoted to this influential twentieth-century French couturier. Lucien Lelong was a central figure in French fashion from the 1920s to the 1950s, and his designs were in many ways precursors of contemporary fashion shapes and developments. Noted for his skill, exquisite workmanship, and beautiful fabrics, Lelong and his house promoted a fluid, minimalist, elegant look. Lelong blended modern design with a strong business sense and was influential for both his fashions and his entrepreneurship. He was one of the earliest designers to diversify into lingerie, accessories, and perfumes, and in 1934 he introduced a luxury ready-to-wear line. During the Occupation in World War II, he was instrumental in persuading the Germans to allow French couture houses to remain in Paris rather than moving to Berlin. This wonderfully illustrated history of Lelong and his house chronicles the period and its leading personalities, artists, and designers. Lelong's clients included Colette, Greta Garbo, Gloria Swanson, and Rose Kennedy; Balmain, Dior, and Givenchy apprenticed with him; and Horst, Beaton, Hoyningen Huene, Man Ray, and Lee Miller photographed his models. 134 illustrations, 48 in color.

Peter Beard is one of four new titles published this September in Thames & Hudsons acclaimed a Photofilea series. Each book brings together the best work of the world as greatest photographers in an attractive format and at an easily affordable price. Hailed by The Times as a finely produced, the books are printed to the highest standards. Each one contains some sixty full-page reproductions, together with a critical introduction and a full bibliography.

Magnum Photos is one of four new titles being published this Spring in Thames & Hudson as acclaimed a Photofilea series. Each book brings together the best work of the world as greatest photographers (or in this case, its greatest photographic agency) in an attractive format and at an easily affordable price. Hailed by The Times as a finely produced, the books are printed to the highest standards. Each one contains some sixty full-page reproductions printed in superb duotone, together with a critical introduction and a full bibliography.

‘Admirably succinct and perceptive … deserves to become a standard, essential text’ – The Spectator ‘Remarkable for its freshness, poignancy, imaginative understanding and wealth of new research’– The New York Times Book Review Charles Rennie Mackintosh’s finest work dates from about a dozen intensively creative years around 1900. His buildings in Glasgow, and especially his craggy masterpiece the Glasgow School of Art, are more complex and playful than anything in Britain at that time. His interiors, many of them designed in collaboration with his wife, Margaret Macdonald, are both spare and sensuous, creating a world of heightened aesthetic sensibility. Finally, during the 1920s, he painted a series of watercolours which are as original as anything he had done before. Since his death, Mackintosh has been lauded as a pioneer of the Modern Movement and as a master of Art Nouveau. This book, with illustrations that include specially prepared plans and sections, takes a clear-eyed view of Mackintosh and his achievement, revealing a designer of extraordinary sophistication and inventiveness.

This book, beautifully illustrated and written by two authorities on sixteenth and seventeenth-century art and architecture, leads the reader through the major styles and shifts of baroque architecture throughout Europe and beyond, and provides a fascinating account of how baroque developed in relation to the unique urban culture of each nation where the style became popular. To admire the undulating façade of Rome’s San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane, to walk through the Palace of Versailles’ lavish succession of rooms, or to marvel at the seemingly endless array of columns and windows of St. Petersburg’s Winter Palace is to observe architecture in the act of glorifying the key powers of the day—the empire, wealth, the church, and even mankind’s inventiveness. In-depth coverage of the architecture of France and Italy is coupled with serious analysis on how the style developed in Spain, Portugal, Poland, Russia, and Scandinavia, as well as in the Spanish and Portuguese colonies in the Americas.Giving the richest and most complete account of its history to date, this is an essential introduction to baroque architecture for the general reader.