{"product_id":"joel-peter-witkin-gods-of-earth-and-heaven-1989-first-edition","title":"GODS OF EARTH AND HEAVEN","description":"\u003cp data-start=\"0\" data-end=\"210\"\u003eA haunting and visually uncompromising photobook, \u003cem data-start=\"50\" data-end=\"76\"\u003eGods of Earth and Heaven\u003c\/em\u003e by \u003cspan class=\"hover:entity-accent entity-underline inline cursor-pointer align-baseline\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"whitespace-normal\"\u003eJoel-Peter Witkin\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e stands as one of the most iconic and unsettling works in late twentieth-century photography.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"212\" data-end=\"559\"\u003ePublished in 1989 by \u003cspan class=\"hover:entity-accent entity-underline inline cursor-pointer align-baseline\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"whitespace-normal\"\u003eTwelvetrees Press\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e, this first edition presents a concentrated survey of Witkin’s meticulously staged black-and-white tableaux. The book consolidates his radical exploration of the body, mortality, religion, and art history, positioning his work within a deeply symbolic and confrontational visual language.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"561\" data-end=\"993\"\u003eWitkin’s photographs depict figures that exist at the margins of conventional representation—bodies altered, hybridized, fragmented, or posthumously recontextualized. Yet beyond their initial intensity, these images reveal a rigorous formal structure. Drawing from Old Master painting, religious iconography, and Baroque theatricality, Witkin transforms taboo subject matter into compositions of solemn and often disquieting beauty.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"995\" data-end=\"1402\"\u003eThe publication is distinguished by its refined production, with rich tonal gradation and deep blacks that heighten the sculptural presence of each subject. An accompanying essay by \u003cspan class=\"hover:entity-accent entity-underline inline cursor-pointer align-baseline\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"whitespace-normal\"\u003eGuy Blaisdell\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e situates the work within what he describes as a “human afterworld,” a liminal space where the dead persist as aesthetic and symbolic presences—at once sacred, grotesque, and transcendent.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"1404\" data-end=\"1720\"\u003eRather than operating as provocation alone, \u003cem data-start=\"1448\" data-end=\"1474\"\u003eGods of Earth and Heaven\u003c\/em\u003e proposes photography as a ritual space—one in which mortality, identity, and divinity are staged, examined, and reimagined. As a first edition, it remains a key collectible for scholars and collectors of conceptual and transgressive photography.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"1722\" data-end=\"1961\"\u003e\u003cstrong data-start=\"1722\" data-end=\"1736\"\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/strong\u003e Twelvetrees Press\u003cbr data-start=\"1754\" data-end=\"1757\"\u003e\u003cstrong data-start=\"1757\" data-end=\"1766\"\u003eYear:\u003c\/strong\u003e 1989\u003cbr data-start=\"1771\" data-end=\"1774\"\u003e\u003cstrong data-start=\"1774\" data-end=\"1787\"\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/strong\u003e English\u003cbr data-start=\"1795\" data-end=\"1798\"\u003e\u003cstrong data-start=\"1798\" data-end=\"1809\"\u003eFormat:\u003c\/strong\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr data-start=\"1839\" data-end=\"1842\"\u003e\u003cstrong data-start=\"1842\" data-end=\"1852\"\u003ePages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 124 pages\u003cbr data-start=\"1862\" data-end=\"1865\"\u003e\u003cstrong data-start=\"1865\" data-end=\"1879\"\u003eCondition:\u003c\/strong\u003e Very good \/ fine condition. Clean interior; binding tight; well-preserved copy.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"1963\" data-end=\"2063\"\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"joel peter witkin","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51248999596320,"sku":"LI-JPW-0000002","price":360.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0878\/0202\/0128\/files\/joel-peter-wtkin-gods-of-earth-and-heaven-front-cover-intermission.png?v=1771389844","url":"https:\/\/intermissionbooks.com\/products\/joel-peter-witkin-gods-of-earth-and-heaven-1989-first-edition","provider":"intermission books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}