P. H. Polk: Photographs.

Atlanta, Georgia: Nexus Press, 1980. Limited edition. No. 687 of a signed, limited edition of 1200. 12-1/2 inches by 12 inches. [2],111,[1]pp. Cream cloth backed in brown cloth, with facsimile of Polk's signature in gilt to front board, in cream cloth-covered slipcase. B&w photographic illustrations. Light soiling and fraying to slipcase, else fine. Fine in Very Good Slipcase.

A monograph of mostly portrait photography by Prentice Herman Polk (1898-1984), one of the best African American photographers of his generation. Born in Bessemer, Alabama, to a miner and a seamstress, Polk found his artistic calling as a teen and, in 1916, apprenticed as a photographer at Tuskegee Institute under Cornelius Battey. After he left Tuskegee, Polk continued educating himself about photography via correspondence courses while working at a shipyard. He later returned to Tuskegee Institute to join the photography division's faculty, and would go on to serve as the school's official photographer from 1939 until his death.