Controversial painter, sculptor, filmmaker, and photographer Piotr Uklański — who was recently dubbed a "Kielbasa cowboy" for writing and directing a Polish western — has been making waves in the art world for the past decade. His photographic series The Nazis, which appropriated film-still and poster details of actors in German military regalia, and his photograph of the bare bottom of his girlfriend, super-curator Alison Gingeras, brought him international media attention, while his rising auction prices have made him a collectors' darling. Unfortunately, Uklański's most notorious work is left out of this monograph, which was published in conjunction with a recent exhibition of his photography at Musée d'Art Moderne et Contemporain in Strasbourg, France. But The Joy of Photography, which pays tribute to the same-titled guidebook published by Kodak for amateur photographers, is filled with beautiful images of natural phenomena. An island is masked, presenting the illusion of seeing it through binoculars; landscapes are rotated vertically and multiplied to produce otherworldly views; and cityscapes and automobile lights are shot at night with long exposures to construct near abstractions. The overall effect, especially in the book's large-scale format, is enchanting.

Piotr Uklański's work is on view in the 5th Berlin Biennial for Contemporary Art through June 15 and in a solo show at New York's Gagosian Gallery through May 17.