Michael Itkoff

Michael Itkoff, Street Portraits
Charta Books, January 2009

Text by Bill Kouwenhoven, Aaron Schuman

pp. 64 – 31 illustrations in color
paperback – 17x24 cm
English text
ISBN 978-88-8158-690-5

click here to purchase a copy

Shot in London, Sydney, Hanoi, Bangkok, and New York, Itkoff's portraits employ a makeshift backdrop to partially separate the subjects from their contextual surroundings. While this is a common technique for creating ambiguity, Itkoff refuses to adhere to the created boundaries and instead presents the full context of each figure — hands clutch a white square behind the subject while the world around them persists in full force. In his approach Itkoff is rejecting the pretension of hidden artifice, and the effect is powerful — each subject exists in a shared space but a space which itself exists in everyday reality. - Daniel Espeset, photo-eye Magazine

"asks us to take a second look at the way we view a portrait” - Photo Review, Spring 2010

"a unique exploration of portraiture" - Picture Magazine, May 2009

"an entertaining photo book" - Katalog, v.21#2

Edition info:
15 1/2 x 23" C-prints, printed on 20x24" paper, Edition of 7