Bright, Bright Day

Andrey Tarkovsky is widely considered one of the greatest filmmakers in history. This beautifully produced, gem-like volume collects his extremely evocative and personal Polaroids, most of which feature his family and their most cherished settings-at home and in nature. Edited by Stephen Gill, who also contributes a text, this volume contains essays by leading critics; poems by Arseniy Tarkovsky; a text by Andrey A. Tarkovsky, his son; Andrey Tarkovsky's own essay on photography; and a series of intimate Tarkovsky family photographs made during the 1930s by the Moscow poet Lev Gornung. In his text, Gill writes, "The images seem to dance between reality, the very being of their subject, and the photographer's feeling for them. These images are descriptive documents, but they also speak for themselves, conveying something of Tarkovsky's emotions. Tarkovsky's photographs are wonderfully measured; his feet seem to be firmly on the ground, and yet he leaves space for his subjects to breathe, so he does not mute the essence."