Sam Abell (born 1945) is one of America’s most influential documentary photographers, celebrated in particular for his in-depth color photo-essays for National Geographic magazine. He has also made a considerable impact as a teacher and author. Abell’s career is now the subject of The Sam Abell Library, a new publication project from Radius inaugurated with this volume–the first in a series of four multi-volume sets. Each of these sets is themed around a particular genre: the photography of places; the photography of nature; the photography of the past; and the photography of ideas. Essays by Abell appear in all of the books. In Life and Still Life, Abell explores three different cultures: Newfoundland; Hagi, Japan; and Northern Australia. This first boxed set also includes a fourth book with an illustrated essay by writer and curator Leah Bendavid-Val examining Abell’s evolution as an artist.