Camera, July 1972. Volume 51, No. 7. Naked Earth.

Featuring: Antarctica, Franz Lazi; Rock, Ron Rosenstock; Desert, Farrell Grehan; and Himalayas, Yoshikazu Shirakawa. Also Tailored Ultra-Miniature Performance - the Pocket Instamatics. Fine condition.  Summary:

The July 1972 issue of Camera (Volume 51, No. 7), titled "Naked Earth," is a masterful exploration of the planet’s most elemental and unadorned landscapes. Curated by Allan Porter, the issue strips away the human element to focus on the raw textures, geological rhythms, and vast scales of the natural world, presented through four distinct environmental themes.

Featured Portfolios

• Antarctica (Franz Lazi): Lazi captures the ethereal and crystalline beauty of the frozen continent. His work emphasizes the architectural qualities of ice and the blinding, high-key light of the polar region, rendering the landscape as a series of abstract white-on-white compositions.

• Rock (Ron Rosenstock): A student of Minor White, Rosenstock brings a "Zone System" precision to the study of stone. His portfolio focuses on the tactile surfaces, fissures, and ancient permanence of rock formations, treating them as spiritual and meditative subjects.

• Desert (Farrell Grehan): Grehan explores the fluid, shifting geometry of desert dunes. His imagery highlights the interplay of shadow and light on sand, capturing the paradoxical nature of the desert as both a minimalist void and a place of complex, undulating patterns.

• Himalayas (Yoshikazu Shirakawa): Renowned for his high-altitude photography, Shirakawa provides a dramatic look at the world’s highest peaks. His work emphasizes the sublime power and verticality of the Himalayas, often using atmospheric clouds and jagged silhouettes to convey a sense of cosmic scale.

Core Themes

• The Sublime: The issue revives the 18th-century aesthetic concept of the sublime—the feeling of awe and terror inspired by the vastness of nature—recontextualized for a 20th-century photographic audience.

• Abstraction in Nature: By isolating specific geological features, the photographers transform literal landscapes into abstract studies of form, line, and contrast.

• Environmental Purity: Titled "Naked Earth," the issue intentionally excludes any sign of human habitation or technology, presenting the world in a primordial, "untouched" state.

This edition is celebrated for its exceptional printing quality, which was necessary to capture the subtle tonal gradations of Rosenstock’s rocks and the delicate highlights of Lazi’s Antarctic ice. It remains a definitive example of 1970s landscape photography that leans toward the philosophical and the grand.