Burden, Shirley. Chairs. Text and photographs by Shirley Burden.

Aperture, 1985.  Hardcover in cloth with protected dust jacket.  Near fine/fine.  Black-and-white photographs of Paris, mostly of chairs. In the text, Burden tells about going to Paris, noticing the chairs in the Bois, and then switches to the voice of a chair commenting on the other chairs and the people who sit on them.  Another charming book by the photographer and filmmaker who had a long association with Aperture. Summary:

Chairs (1985) is a poetic, minimalist monograph by Shirley Burden, a photographer known for his spiritual and contemplative approach to the medium. The book is a "Visual Meditation" that uses the image of the empty chair as a profound metaphor for human presence, absence, and the passage of time.

Core Themes and Narrative

• The "Portrait" of Absence: Burden treats chairs as sentient beings. The narrative suggests that an empty chair is never truly empty—it retains the "residue" of those who sat in it. It is a study of the "Ghost in the Furniture."

• Universal Utility: The book spans a vast social range, from the ornate thrones of European cathedrals to the humble wooden stools of rural cottages. Burden explores the chair as a "Common Denominator" of human civilization.

• Spiritual Stillness: Like his earlier work on the shrine at Lourdes, Chairs is deeply quiet. It encourages the viewer to slow down and find the "extraordinary in the ordinary," elevating a utilitarian object to a symbol of rest and contemplation.

Visual and Technical Notes

• Style: Burden’s photography is celebrated for its soft, ethereal light. His "finish" avoids the harsh, industrial contrast of modernism, opting instead for a silvery, tonal range that makes the wood and fabric of the chairs seem to glow from within.

• Compositional Simplicity: By isolating the chair against simple backgrounds, Burden strips away the "noise" of the world, focusing the viewer’s eye on the chairs.