Car Crashes & Other Sad Stories

First edition of Car Crashes & Other Sad Stories by Mell Kilpatrick. Fist impression. Medium format hardback in near fine condition. Some very minor shelf wear to the top edge of the dust jacket only. 

About

An incredible and utterly unique historical document. This book contains selections from the photographic collection of one Mell Kilpatrick, a news photographer from South California who relentlessly pursued his profession during the 40s and 50s, capturing images from the plentiful crime scenes and in particular automobile collisions that came his way. Kilpatrick was an obsessive witness to the effects of the post-war explosion of car culture in California, and through his lens he repeatedly viewed the fatal consequences of speed. technology and reckless abandon. His work might have remained lost and unknown, sealed away in his locked darkroom, untouched since his death in 1961, if it hadn't been brought to light by collector and dealer Jennifer Dumas, who Found the 5,000 negatives and realised she'd stumbled upon something very special.