Dave Heath was born in Philadelphia in 1931 and emigrated to Toronto in 1970. His interest in photography was sparked by Ralph Crane’s essay, “Bad Boy’s Story”, in Life Magazine, May 1947, and John Whiting’s book, Photography is a Language. Committed to photography as an art form for 60 years, he has worked in the established tradition of Stieflitz, Minor White, Walker Evans, Robert Frank and Nathan Lyons.
His work may be found in various collections including the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa; the Museum of Modern Art, New York; the Philadelphia Museum of Art; and private collections in North America and Europe. As well, his work has been published in many periodicals and represented in anthologies and histories such as Mirrors and Windows by John Szarkowski, Photography in America by Richard Doty, Magicians of Light by James Borcoman, and An American Century of Photography by Keith Davis. The genesis and development of his much acclaimed book A Dialogue with Solitude and of his photographs while serving as a combat infantryman in Korea were explored by Michael Torosian in his books Extempore and Korea, published by Lumiere Press in 1988 and in 2004.
Art Show, dedicated in homage to Robert Frank, is Dave Heath’s first book in 40 years since the affective and dynamic black and white photographs of A Dialogue With Solitude, in which he now revisits with equal virtuosity and sensitivity familiar themes through digital colour photography.
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