Shadows of Love, Shadows of Loneliness: Volume One Photographs

In this landmark collection co-released by Rare Bird and Unnamed Press, William T. Vollmann offers a kaleidoscopic retrospective of the visual artwork he has produced over four decades, with new commentary from Vollmann on his process, inspiration, and the many intersections with his writing.

Shadows of Love, Shadows of Loneliness includes Kodachrome slides of Afghan Mujaheddin from 1982; a handmade watercolor sketchbook from Subarctic Canada, complete with inscriptions to Vollmann from local Inuit teenagers; gum bichromate prints of American landscapes from Maui to Mount Desert Island; silver gelatin portfolios of insurgents, refugees, prostitutes, police, and criminals all over the world; photogenic drawings of Tahitian women; transgender self-portraits of “Dolores”; Bible woodblock prints in which God and everyone else is female; acrylic paintings of California landscapes; cyanotypes, platinotypes, salt prints, and gold-toned Vandykes, to name just a few.