The Eye Club, unofficially founded around 1975, was the nickname given to the loose conglomeration of individuals who found themselves among the first new collectors of photography. Operating purely on instinct and the love of seeing, these few dozen people (including Sam Wagstaff, Andre Jammes and other now-legendary collectors) shared a distaste for established pantheons and veered instead toward the lesser-known, the anonymous, the outré or any photograph emanating sparks of electricity.

Assembled in a related spirit of adventure, the nearly one-hundred extraordinary images in The Eye Club weave back and forth through the history of photography to reveal little-known images by some of the medium’s most influential artists. Published to mark Fraenkel Gallery’s twenty-fifth year and printed with exceptional fidelity, The Eye Club presents a surprising feast of images for the eye and the mind.