Patti Smith: Camera Solo

"As a child I had great respect for inanimate objects," musician and artist Smith (Just Kids) explains in the interview preceding her collection of photographs. She tells Talbott, the director of The Wadsworth Antheneum Museum in Hartford, Conn., that she's "always been talismanic" and that often objects can still invoke a presence of the owner. That reverential approach informs this book, which coincides with her first museum exhibition at the Wadsworth Atheneum. This solemn and contemplative collection of Smith's hazy, dreamlike portraits celebrates stillness. Writer Jim Carroll's unkempt bed, Shelly's grave, and Rimbaud's family atlas converge with images of winged cherubs, a bust of Baudelaire, and longtime friend Robert Mapplethorpe's hands to create an intimate experience that manages to invoke and celebrate the subject's presence in these objects. The introductory interview gives weight to the images and garners more appreciation for the collection. Those familiar with Smith's career will find added poignancy in photos such as Mapplethorpe's iconic slippers, but even those who know nothing of Smith will appreciate her quiet snapshots. Photos. (Nov.)