Saul Steinberg Masquerade by Inge Morath. Viking Studio. First Edition.

In the late 1950s and early 1960s, photographer Inge Morath and a New Yorker artist named Saul Steinberg collaborated on a project that would later become a playful series of portraits. Their friends and acquaintances donned paper bags that were decorated with fantastic faces and posed for photographs, all captured with Morath’s straightforward, reportorial style. Now, for the first time, these individual and group portraits are published together, revealing a mischievous charm that implicates otherwise respectable people in their playful antics. Steinberg’s whimsical masks complement the deadpan photography, and the intriguing anonymity of the figures only adds to the overall allure. Despite not knowing who the subjects are, the humour and burstiness of the drawings make it easy to become captivated by their unpredictable playfulness. This delightful little book is the perfect gift for anyone looking to add a touch of playful perplexity to their bookshelf.