RAY-JONES (Tony). - Lot 246

RAY-JONES (Tony). English Leisure. 120 photographs by Tony Ray-Jones. Foreword by Ainsley Ellis. Paris, Chêne, 1975. Large quarto, publisher’s hardcover with an illustrated photographic dust jacket. French edition of the only major book conceived by Tony Ray-Jones (1941–1972), a leading figure in British photography whose career was cut short at the age of twenty-eight. Trained in the United States under Alexey Brodovitch and influenced by Garry Winogrand, Joel Meyerowitz, and Lee Friedlander, Ray-Jones returned to England in the mid-1960s with the ambitious project of portraying a country in the midst of profound change. For several years, he traveled through seaside resorts, fairs, contests, picnics, public gardens, folk festivals, and villages along the English coast to capture the behaviors, rituals, and eccentricities of his compatriots. His perspective—at once ironic, tender, and deeply anthropological—revitalized British documentary photography by emphasizing complex compositions, dense scenes, and visual coincidences that would influence an entire generation of photographers, notably Martin Parr. Published shortly after his death, *A Day Off - An English Journal* remains his seminal work; this French edition presents the essence of the book under the title *Loisirs anglais*, bringing together 120 photographs preceded by a foreword by Ainsley Ellis. The book is now considered a classic of postwar British humanist photography and one of the most influential photobooks of the 1970s. Condition: A good copy, in an illustrated dust jacket showing slight signs of wear and some scuffing along the edges.