MAAT, 2024. First edition. Hardcover, 188 pp, b/w and color illustrated, 285 x 226 mm. Photographs by William Klein. Text by David Campany (English / Portuguese). Design by Pedro Falcão.
Published to coincide with a major exhibition of the same name at MAAT Museum, in Lisbon, 18-09-2024 — 03-02-2025, William Klein – All the World’s a Stage brings together an extensive selection of Klein’s images with David Campany's texts, including an extensive essay and a chronology of the artist’s life and work.
When William Klein went into the streets of New York in 1954-55, and later Rome, Moscow, Tokyo, Paris, and many other cities around the world, he was never trying to be secretive. He would present himself. People would see him.There would be eye contact, and often conversation. From a brief and excited exchange of glances, words or body language, a photograph might emerge.
For many years, Klein switched between street photography and his fashion work for Vogue. He had a strong and spontaneous rapport with the various models he worked with, often collaborating by inviting them into the playful game of making the photographs. Here, too, Klein and his camera would catch faces looking back.
We can never know the exact nature of what goes on between a photographer and those in front of the camera. The image will give us clues, but never the full story. A photograph is like a poem - fragmentary, suggestive, and open to the viewer's response. Nevertheless, we can say that the gazes that were returned to Klein are signs of a rich, complex and ephemeral social world, and of a deep mutual curiosity.
— David Campany
