Michals, Duane. Upside Down Inside Out and Backwards by Duane Michals. Signed.

Sonny Boy, 1993. Wraps, not issued in hard cover. Inscribed from "For Sam from Uncle Duane." With custom made polyester protector. Fine. 

Duane Michals (1932–2026) was an influential American photographer who transformed mid-20th-century photography through his innovative use of narrative sequences and handwritten text overlaid onto prints. Emerging in the 1960s as a self-taught artist after initial training in graphic design, Michals departed from traditional photojournalism and formalist aesthetics to create staged, multi-frame stories that explored existential themes such as mortality, desire, memory, and spiritual identity. In addition to his groundbreaking fine art projects and widespread international exhibitions—including solo shows at the Museum of Modern Art and the International Center of Photography—he was celebrated for his commercial work and intimate portraits of major cultural figures such as René Magritte, Andy Warhol, and Marcel Duchamp. Michals passed away in Manhattan on June 9, 2026, at the age of 94, leaving behind a legacy as one of modern photography's most singular storytellers.

Upside Down, Inside Out, and Backwards is a whimsical, inventive artist's book by photographer Duane Michals that serves as an affectionate homage to the nonsense verse of Edward Lear.

Key Focus Areas

• The Structure and Tone: Departing from standard photographic monographs, this playful volume is designed to turn traditional artistic conventions completely on their head. It features a running collage of black-and-white photographs interspersed with vibrant, multi-colored text.

• The Creative Collaboration: The book combines Michals’ original photographs and handwritten elements with lively supplementary drawings and graphic embellishments by designer Arne Lewis.

• The Content: The pages are packed with a spirited mix of nonsensical poems, limericks, wisecracks, jokes, and songs written in Lear's signature eccentric style. Through this lighthearted format, Michals explores themes of perspective, imagination, and childlike wonder, proving that photography can be used for pure, joyous subversion rather than just rigid documentation.