What I loved about the new book ‘American Originals‘ by photographer William Abranowicz (published by Vendome Press) is the illumination and the focus on the notion that the home is the most ultimate and substantial expression of our identity, that the objects we choose for our surroundings have something to say about who we are. But it is foremost about the way photography and interiors, photography and objects, photography and people are intersected, and about the personal relationships that the photographer has forged with his subjects. In his poetic, reflective way, Abranowicz captures the essence of homes and working places, testifying, that to him, ‘making an image with meaning and depth requires a soufuleness.’ I love the selection of interiors featured in this stunning coffee-table book, where the private homes and lives of such influencers and artists as Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi; Stephen Antonson; Martha Stewart; Alan Wanzenberg; Bette Midler and Martin von Haselberg; John Mellencamp; Robert Couturier; and Mayer Rus; are revealed in the most intimate, graceful, moving way. The ultimate power of this publication, in addition to its stunning quality, is the diversity. It is inspiring the readers to understand that the beauty of the home comes from within, that the soul of interiors can be found only where the personal voice of their inhabits is presented.
