ERROL SAWYER'S QUINTESSENTIAL URBAN EYE

In City Mosaic of Errol Sawyer (born 1943), an African American photographer from New York residing in Amsterdam, are 64 black & white images shown, mainly of New York, Paris and Amsterdam. The pictures are divided in three chapters: 'Graffiti,' 'Portraits & City Scenes' and 'Perspectives.' Errol Sawyer studied history and political science before deciding to become a professional photographer in 1969. Besides his commercial work he has always made aesthetic street reportage pictures with often a socio-political message.

'It comprises close to four decades' worth of engagement with the classic mode of mainstream-modernist street photography… Consistent in quality, in terms of both craft and content, it speaks in its own voice, aware of the tradition on which it builds but not noticeably beholden to any predecessor therein.' —- A.D. Coleman, photography critic and author.

'It is not an accommodating view of the world that emanates from Errol Sawyer's photographs… The power of Sawyer's photographs lies in ambiguity and complexity of the possibilities to read them… For the documentation of human behaviour that Errol Sawyer captures in big cities, it is irrelevant whether the photographs were taken at the end of the 20th century or in the first decennium of the 21st. In the power of their expression they are ageless.'—- Professor Dr. Franziska Bollerey, TUDelft, History of Architecture and Urbanism.

'The body of Errol Sawyer's work stands as a critique of our world but he is a Utopian at heart. Every one of Errol's pictures gives evidence that he never forgets the beauty and fragility of the human condition; his work invites the viewer to experience this world with compassion and to take action to improve it.' —- Architect Mathilde Fischer, designer book and writer Foreword.

City Mosaic is published by: Errol Sawyer Foundation, a non-profit institution located at: 1e Weteringdwarsstraat 39, 1017 TL Amsterdam, the Netherlands. T 31 20 4288799, W www.errolsawyer.com, E esf@errolsawyer.org ISBN 978 90 816041 1 6 170 p, ills bw, 30 x 30 cm, hb, English.

City Mosaic is distributed by: IDEA books, Nieuwe Herengracht 11, 1011 RK Amsterdam, the Netherlands. W www.ideabooks.nl, Idea Code 10598, Price €45,00