The Best of Becker

Unlike so many contemporary photographers, Jonathan Becker doesn't set out to expose or shock. His eye is drawn to the unsettling expression on a subject's face, the offbeat object in a perfect room, the subtle notes that reflect the strangeness of life, especially as it is lived at the top. Now the best of his work has been collected in a splendid compendium from Assouline to be published this month, Jonathan Becker: 30 Years at Vanity Fair. Becker's association with this magazine goes back to the revived title's 1982 prototype, to which he contributed a portrait of his mentor, the great French photographer Brassai. From Cornelia Guest about to land a big one on C.I.A. director William Casey at a 1984 inauguration bash to Conrad Black posing on his Palm Beach lawn with a statue of Poseidon behind him and his wife, Barbara Amiel, curled up at his feet, they are all here: the tycoons, politicians, movie stars, and artists who have shaped and dominated our world over the last three decades. The most compelling image: a young Senator Al Gore Jr. and his father, former senator Al Gore Sr., a hard-eyed buck with his sacrificial fawn.

BOB COLACELLO