In the simplest descriptive sense, Ann Mandelbaum's photographs are merely close-ups of portions of the human body ambiguously and sensually presented. In a larger sense, they are rigidly composed images, manipulated in various ways to create an almost textural viewing sensation. One of her most recent series -- extreme close-ups of her parents' aging necks -- has resulted in a unique set of "body landscapes" that draws the viewer deep within the surface.

This is the second monograph, surveying work from 1994 to 1998, by the American artist Ann Mandelbaum. She continues to reinvent the classic genres of still life and landscape, emphasizing the body and organic form. The new images elevate the familiarity with skin; and its folds, wrinkles and protrusions to abstract and surprising levels. Tongues spring rudely to life or sit against one another like stacked pebbles. Chests become fields of barbed wire. The results are disturbing and alienating in nature, yet demand an awareness of physical self.