Pop Icon Sir Elton John and his partner, David Furnish, own one of the most prestigious photography collections in the world, including many works from the greatest photographers of all time. A curated selection will go on display this month in an exhibition titled Fragile Beauty, and it has just been announced that there will also be a coffee table book to accompany it.
Fragile Beauty: Photographs from the Sir Elton John and David Furnish Collection is published by V&A Publishing and will be available after the exhibition opens on Saturday May 18 2024 at the V&A in London, England.
Over the past 30 years, Sir Elton and David have built an unrivaled collection of photographs spanning the entire timeline of the medium. It is a who's who of the photography elite, and the book takes us through 170 infamous images – many of which act as both art and a historical marker of the medium.
Works by Richard Avedon, Hiroshi Sugimoto, Saul Leiter, Nan Goldin, Robert Mapplethorpe, William Eggleston and Zanele Muholi are just a handful of exceptional photographers whose work is included in the book.
The collection covers a broad depth of photography disciplines, from fashion and film to landscape and reportage, and the book is partitioned as such. Each chapter is accompanied by text, explaining the genre, the importance of the photographs within the collection and their mark on history.
On the topic of text, the book has an accompanying in-depth interview with Elton John and David Furnish conducted by actor and famous art lover Russell Tovey. This interview provides great context for the exhibition and why they started collecting in the first place.
Speaking on his appreciation of photography, Elton John says, "Like when you write a song, when you take a photograph there's a bit of luck and happenstance in it – something happens at the right moment and you have to have the intelligence to click on it."
While looking through the book's pages I was overwhelmed by the collection. Page after page introduced some of the most recognizable photographs in history, and this is made all the more impactful by the editing and sequencing – carried out by the head of photography at the V&A, Duncan Forbes.
With such a monumental collection, one might imagine any overarching theme to be lost to the individual images; instead, they work together harmoniously to provide an account of the history of photography. William Eggleston's Red Ceiling, Herb Ritts' Versace Dress and Eve Arnold's portrait of Malcolm X all provide an insight into the level of work on display – it should not be missed!
Fragile Beauty: Photographs from the Sir Elton John and David Furnish Collection is published by V&A Publishing and will be available once the exhibition opens on Saturday May 18 2024 at the V&A. It will be available for a special exhibition price of £35 (approximately $45 / AU $66) with an RRP of £40 (around $50 / AU $75 via the online store.
The book makes a fantastic coffee table book to have on display and to dip in and out of, as without fail, you will open up the book on a piece of photographic history. It is also an ideal format to enjoy the images for those unable to make it to London for the exhibition.
You may also be interested in our guides to the best coffee table books, the best books on photography, and the best photography books on portraits.
