Henry Wessel: Walkabout / Man Alone / Botanical Census

This book presents three independent bodies of work by Henry Wessel from the past five decades. Each is a precise sequence recreating the experience of passing through the territory described.
ôWalkaboutö invites the viewer to walk with Wessel through working-class neighborhoods and bordering urban areas. The photos show sun-soaked homes, cars, bars, alleyways, gas stations and cyclone fences, reminding us that intuition can lead to dramatic possibilities anywhere. Wessel describes his approach: ôAt the core of this receptivity is a process that might be called soft eyes. It is a physical sensation. You are not looking for something. You are open, receptive. At some point, you are in front of something that you cannot ignore.ö

ôMan Aloneö comprises photographs Wessel made of men in San Francisco. What at first seems a study of the gesture and gait of the urban man is actually a collection of individuals: each manÆs singularity is described through the interrelatedness of stride, garb, f