Hiett, Steve. Pleasure Places by Steve Hiett.

Flash, 1976. Softcover with 54 color plates of architectural details with a sense of abstraction. [A book seldom found in better than good condition.] Custom-made polyester jacket. Very good with thin scratches on covers that look more pronounced in the photo of the cover than when you see the book in person.  Summary:

Published in 1976 by Flash Books, Pleasure Places is the debut monograph by British photographer, musician, and graphic designer Steve Hiett. Prior to establishing himself as a prominent international fashion photographer for publications like Vogue and Marie Claire, Hiett compiled this slim, square-format volume containing 54 vibrant color plates. The book features a stark cover design by legendary art director Bea Feitler, emphasizing full-page color photography paired with minimalist layouts.

1. The Poetry of Empty Spaces

Unlike the populated fashion shoots that defined his later career, Pleasure Places is composed entirely of unpopulated, quiet environments. Hiett focuses on fragments of suburban streets, empty swimming pools, hotel facades, and parked cars. By removing human subjects, the text highlights a sense of urban isolation, turning ordinary spaces into eerie, dreamlike monuments of leisure.

2. Form, Line, and Sculptural Beauty

Drawing heavily on his formal training in graphic design and painting, Hiett treats each frame as a geometric composition. The photographs showcase a keen attention to architectural lines, sharp shadows, and structural forms juxtaposed against nature. The images rely on strict framing to find graphic order within chaotic, everyday environments.

3. Kodachrome and Color Mastery

Shot using a Nikon camera and Kodachrome film, the book is celebrated for its saturated color palette and brilliant light quality. Hiett utilizes natural sunlight to create high-contrast visuals where deep shadows slice across bright surfaces. Because of its early, sophisticated embrace of color realism to document mundane surroundings, the book is frequently cited alongside Luigi Ghirri’s 1978 masterpiece Kodachrome as a foundational text in modern color photography.

Pleasure Places is a highly collectible photographic time capsule that captures the transition from graphic design to fine art photography in the mid-1970s. It stands as a pivotal record of Steve Hiett’s early artistic voice, demonstrating that before he turned his camera toward high fashion, his signature eye for bold color and off-center composition was already fully formed in the quiet corners of suburban landscapes.