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Glenway Wescott and Monroe Wheeler were an extraordinary couple, to be sure. The two met for the first time in 1919, and it was, it seems, a classic case of love at first sight. At the time, Wescott was still in his teens and Wheeler just 20. Seemingly inured to the social mores of the time and inconstancies of youth, the two embarked on a relationship that can be called nothing short of a marriage, for the next 68 years, until Wescott's death in 1987. The young couple traveled the world, stopping in on Gertrude Stein's Paris Salon and crossing paths with Jean Cocteau on the Riviera, while Wescott developed his poetry and later fiction (he authored The Grandmothers and Pilgrim Hawk, among other bestsellers of his day) and Wheeler found his path. Eventually he would become the director of publications at the Museum of Modern Art.

The two moved with equal ease through the literary and artistic circles of London and the continent as well as their families' Midwestern homes. That their relationship thrived is notable enough. But 1927 brought a new challenge to their pairing. High-school student George Platt Lynes fell passionately in love with the strikingly good-looking Wheeler. And Wheeler, for his part, was entranced by Lynes's "full, luscious mouth and his wasplike waist." Instead of driving a wedge between Wescott and Wheeler, as might be expected, Lynes soon became part of their shared life. When, after some casting about, he hit upon photography, the two nurtured his career and used their considerable connections to get him both work and gallery shows.

When We Were Three presents photographs the trio took as they traveled the world together during the late '20s and '30s. They are the subjects of many of the images, but the Great Wall of China, an Egyptian sphinx, and their numerous friends--including Stein, Cocteau, Thornton Wilder, and Katherine Anne Porter--are captured, too. Oddly, the subject, date, and location of each photograph are carefully documented, but the photographer is not. Some of the earliest-known Lyne images are here, but it is the biographical essay by Anatole Pohorilenko in the front of the book that calls this out. Still, with its high production value and informative essays by Pohorilenko and James Crump, the book is an enjoyable choice for those interested in early-20th-century photography and the lifestyle of the legendary 1930s American expatriate in Europe. --Jordana Moskowitz ... Read more

Book Description

As his loving but crisply unsentimental images make evident, Peter Turnley is a clear-eyed descendant of such master French photographers as Brassai, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Robert Doisneau, and Edouard Boubat; the latter two, in fact, have written brief tributes to him that serve as forewords to this book. That Turnley's work has been inspired by these earlier influences comes as no suprise, for as a young photographer he worked as Doisneau's assistant, and he subsequently became a close friend of Boubat, meeting him "at least once a week for an afternoon glass of rouge and warm conversation." Yet Turnley's work is uniquely his own, rooted in his 25-year affair of the heart with the most beautiful city in the world. A longtime resident of the city, he invites us to share an intimate Paris that outsiders rarely see, giving us seductive glimpses of Paris life as lived on the street, in the Metro, and at countless neighborhood cafes.

160 duotone photographs
168 pages
11 3/8 x 11 3/8"
Trade Cloth ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Cheaper than a Plane ticket
After being in Paris for an entire summer, I've returned to the US with great heartache. Paris had a profound effect on me, so when I arrived in the states, I feverishly tried to gather all I could to remind me of Paris. On a whim I bought "Parisians." From the moment I opened it up, I was suddenly back in my beloved city. The photographs capture Paris in the way that takes me back everytime. Turnley's skill at capturing the essence of Parisians is striking, uncanny and charming. If you've been, you miss it, or want to know what Paris is "really" like, just open the cover of "Parisians." On the days I want nothing more than to transport back to Paris, all I have to do is open this book and I'm there.

A touching collection of black and white images
Peter Turnley has captured the spirit of Paris and the souls of Parisians and presented it in one beautifully produced volume for the world to see at an affordable price. The images are stunning and the order of the images contributes to the quality of the book. I expect to return to these images often for years to come.

The Beauty of Paris
For those of you who have been to Paris, Peter Turnley's work will strike a deep sense of longing to return. His ability to capture some many facets of life throughout his book is delightful. I really enjoyed the mix of people, places, and situations he photographed such as a French woman in a barista or fans at a soccer game. His use of black and white photography added a sense of timelessness to the work. In summary, I think the book is an amazing piece of work that highlights the diversity and beauty of Paris. ... Read more

Book Description

In 1972, Stephen Shore left New York City and set out with a friend to Amarillo, Texas. He didn’t drive, so his first view of America was framed by the passenger’s window frame. He was taken aback by the fact that his experience of life as a New Yorker had very little in common with the character and aspirations of Middle America. Later that year he set out again, this time on his own, with a driver’s licence and a Rollei 35 – a point-and-shoot camera – to explore the country through the eyes of an everyday tourist. The project was entitled American Surfaces – referring to the superficial nature of his brief encounters with places and people and the underlying character of the images thathe hoped to produce. With such an easy-to-use camera, he photographed relentlessly. ‘In American Surfaces, I was photographing almost every meal I ate, every person I met, every waiter or waitress who served me, every bed I slept in, every toilet I peed in. But also, I was photographing streets I was driving through, buildings I would see.’

Shore returned to New York triumphant, with hundreds of rolls of film spilling from his bags. In order to remain faithful to the conceptual foundations of the project, he followed the lead of most tourists of the time and sent his film to be developed and printed in Kodak’s labs in New Jersey. The result was hundreds and hundreds of exquisitelycomposed colour pictures, whose subject became the benchmark for documenting of our fast-living, consumer-orientated world – a body of work that followed on from Walker Evans and Robert Frank’s experiences of crossing America and that influenced reams of photographers such as Martin Parr and Bernd & Hilla Becher, who introduced a generation ofstudents to Shore’s work. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

fabulous
Before studying photographs, I did not realize why he has been so highly evaluated, though I felt every his photograph is so strong. But now I really understand his unique vision attracts the viewer. I cannot believe this high quality book was originaly self-published book. His view to see the world is what has not seen. The photographs tell he had close relationships with the subject. So, it is not difficult for the viewer to relate them to the subject. I wish I were the camera he holds...

A Photo Documentary Classic Reissued
Eugene Richards is arguably America's greatest living social documentary photographer, and "Dorchester Days" is his photographic portrait of the blue collar Boston neighborhood in which he came of age.

Originally self-published and printed on a press intended for canning lables, this Phaidon reissue and update of this classic does real justice to Richard's stunning in-your-face documentary style. In addition to including all the original photos and text, this new addition includes photos Richards made of the racial strife in nearby South Boston in the 1970s, as well as additional text, most of it reproduced in Richard's handwriting.

Gene Richards is, sadly, one of a dwindling if-not-dying breed of documentary photographer, whose lives and work are dedicated to telling the stories of the voiceless. A former Vista volunteer and Civil Rights worker, Richards continues to expend his greatest photographic effort to doing good by doing art. And for that reason - even if he wasn't the W. Eugene Smith of our era - this multiple-time Magazine Photographer of the Year deserves the support of anyone seriously interested in photography, or in the lives of the people respectfully examined in his work. ... Read more

Book Description

Digital Photojournalism is dedicated to instruction and theory of digital processes and tools for the study of photojournalism. Currently, the best-selling photojournalism textbooks provide only a chapter or two on digital issues and technology; Digital Photojournalism is an entire book on the subject. Co-authored by a photojournalism professor at the University of North Texas and an Assistant Managing Editor of Visuals for The Dallas Morning News, the book merges two worlds of photojournalism - the academic and the professional - and incorporates the information essential to both. The book covers current practices in the professional field such as transmitting and archiving - information that those interested in photojournalism will need to know as they pursue careers in the field. Legal and ethical issues are also discussed. For interested beginners in digital photojournalism. ... Read more

Book Description

In a photographic language that is original, and that resonates with the dignity of her subjects, Jackie Nickerson’s stylish, strangely beautiful portraits of African farm workers are a testament to grace and human invention in the face of daily toil. ... Read more

Book Description

This is the first book to reproduce the definitive set of 937 rarely seen and classic images of Robert Capa, one of the most influential documentary photographers of the twentieth century.

Robert Capa (1913-54), one of the greatest photographers of the twentieth century and a founding member of Magnum photographic agency, had the mind of a passionate and committed journalist and the eye of an artist. His lifework, consisting of more than 70,000 negative frames, constitutes an unparalleled documentation of a crucial 22-year period (1932-54) encompassing some of the most catastrophic and dramatic events of the last century. This book represents the most definitive selection of Capa's work ever published, 937 photographs meticulously selected by his brother, Cornell Capa (himself a noted Life photographer), and his biographer, Richard Whelan.

The photographs, arranged in chronological order as stories and accompanied by brief commentaries, reveal the dramatic shifts in location and subject matter that Capa experienced from day to day--- from war-torn Israel to Pablo Picasso on a sunny beach in France and from Ernest Hemingway carousing in London to Capa's historic images of the Allied landing on Omaha Beach in Normandy in 1944. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

It is definitive
I have not seen another book on Robert Capa that provides such a complete and insightful coverage of his career and voluminous production. For those who appreciate the importance of Capa's contribution to the history of photography and the rendition of key events spanning a momentous era of human history, this book is a "must-have". At the same time, it is unfortunate that the publishers chose to economize on the quality of the printing and the binding. ... Read more

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The groundbreaking publication Another Vietnam: Pictures of the War from the Other Side is an intense collection of images, many never seen before, from the cameras of North Vietnamese photographers. Each included photographer has a chapter highlighting his personal stories and captivating pictures. The stories are riveting and sometimes ironic: one revolutionary photographer falsified identification cards for Communist fighters, another traveled side by side with guerrillas, while another barely escaped a bombing campaign only to be forever haunted by the loss of his film and equipment.

With almost no resources, a serious lack of film, and outdated equipment, these committed photographers used will and determination in order to record history. From film processed under a night sky with homemade chemicals to making one roll of film last for years, each individual tale is a testament to the power of perseverance. Some of the pictures are haunting (a devastated landscape with the intense flare of napalm, an emergency surgery in a mangrove swamp), while others capture a seemingly staged Communist resolve (smiling soldiers with little children, classic hero poses shot from below). This book offers an important pictorial viewpoint and fills in many gaps from the popular Western media coverage of the war. --J.P. Cohen ... Read more

Reviews (11)

very interesting
With all due respect to Peter Caldwell, I think this book has a lot of value for all Americans, including Vietnam veterans. There are some photos which are propaganda, but they are labelled as such and as the author explains they are part of a larger story. All wars come with propaganda, even our own present war in Afghanistan (remember the US Special Forces soldiers riding horses with the Northern Alliance guys?) The other photos in this handsome book are stunning, especially a very wide panorama of a terribly defoliated Ho Chi Minh Trail. Very touching portraits elsewhere as well as dramatic battle scenes, in addition to the brief histories of the Vietnamese war photographers (in their own words) make this a very valuable and important book. There is something inside for everyone, just dig a little deeper past your first reaction...

quite interesting and enlightening
This is a tough book to sum up in a few words, since many people will use their background to judge it. If you felt we should have won the war, you will hate it. I was forced to serve in VietNam and I found the pictures very interesting. More than just the US era in VietNam, the photos go back to WWII. There are pictures of the Ho Chi Mih trail which vividly show the difficulty in shutting off that supply line. There are pictures of what the US now calls 'collateral damage' from the bombing in the North. There are some propaganga photos, but they are so stated. But far and away there are photos showing the everyday life of those involved in combat, and for that it is a very valuable book. It is a documentation from the other side. Considering how our drill instructors were wont to describe the other side as a bunch of pj'ed peasants, the quality of the photos is first rate. I can not begin to imagine the conditions under which many of the photos were taken, let alone survived to be developed. If you have an open mind about the war, you will enjoy the book. If you already have decided about the war and felt we were suppsoed to have won 'if only....', then I am sure there are lots of gung ho war movies and books for sale on Amazon.com that will better suit your mindset.

First rate, typical of Tim Page, Chris Riley and Doug Niven
Having studied Tim Page's great work "Requiem" tens of times, each time seeing something new in the striking photographs, and having seen Riley and Niven's brilliant work on the killing fields of Cambodia, I knew what to expect when I opened "Another Vietnam." This is a natural follow-on to "Requiem" and reflects Tim Page's admiration for war photographers on all sides. I have the feeling that Tim Page is still at work seeking out new information on some of his closest friends who disappeared on the battlefields of Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam. I hope to see more film documentaries from Tim Page. His investigations, first documented in his film "Danger at the Edge of Town," will continue until all his colleagues are accounted for. No one can accuse Tim Page of having forgotten his heroic comrades. They live on in his lifetime of work.

Another look at Nam.
Most of these pictures record tiny episodes, but those thinkers with a long view might refuse to accept that there were ever two Nams in the 20th Century. When France tried to pick a southern area called Cochin China for itself as a French colony in 1945, there should be little doubt that it was merely usurping part of Ho Chi Minh's independent Vietnam. A picture shows Ho in Hanoi, 39 days after his declaration of Vietnamese independence on Sept. 2, 1945. The picture of Le Minh Truong by himself, Kontum, 1972 (p. 114) is as unexciting as my own pictures taken in that area in 1970. The surprising picture on page 49 was taken May 9, 1973, soon after the American withdrawal: "Cuban leader Fidel Castro hoists a victory flag at the site of the strategic 1968 battle [Khe Sanh]." There are so many troops in the picture that it doesn't show any bomb craters, and a mountain in the background (possibly as far away as Laos) shows that the area was not entirely leveled. Khe Sanh had the highest priority for B-52 strikes when North Vietnamese troops threatened the U.S. troops there and this book says that "was part of the North's plan to divert U.S. and South Vietnamese forces from population areas prior to the Tet offensive." (p. 49). This might provide a lesson for anyone planning a war against American forces, which are bound to rely on a strategy which depends heavily on bombing, and Americans are organized so they pay more attention to their top priority than to anything else. A panorama made from six negatives of "supply trucks rolling through a ghost forest denuded by defoliants dropped by American planes" (p. 135) shows some of the damage from 40 million pounds of Agent Orange "which were sprayed over five million acres, creating environmental havoc." (p. 135). Such tactics suggest that the war was against Nam as a whole, and not a strategy that would have been adopted by one half against the other. The American Civil War was pretty bad, but Abe Lincoln never nuked the South. General Sherman was hard on South Carolina, but not as bad as Americans who wanted to nuke Nam. The defoliated mangrove forest, Ca Mau Peninsula, 1970 (p. 104-5) looks awful, "Americans denuded the landscape with chemicals to deny cover," as if we were involved in a cat and mouse game, but couldn't decide how serious we wanted it to be. A weird picture in which "An NVA soldier positions a Chinese-made mannequin" (p. 60) (a long time after Hamburger Hill) is the perfect: SO? SHOOT ME picture.

I found a lot of irony in the information on page 56 about only 8 of 109 students (the guys who are smiling) being accepted into the army in Hanoi, Aug. 1971. The standards were tough: these "young men were chosen because they had good revolutionary credentials, which usually meant that they didn't come from landowning families." This sounds like a perfect way to pick people who would be willing to hold on to a government job, regardless of the circumstances. The increase in the NVA, from 35,000 in 1950 to over 500,000 by the mid-1970s, didn't require a mandatory system until 1973, when the United States withdrew and the NVA was free to pursue military objectives without being bombed. With the use of American support, South Vietnam's ARVN were capable of suffering "243,000 dead and a half a million seriously wounded." (p. 202).

Picture (p. 218) Russian MIGs "at a remote air base" on January 1, 1973 and the military parade (p. 220) on the outskirts of Hanoi in October, 1973, after the United States had stopped its bombing. Hiding all these things is the result of a lot of effort. On page 54, Hanoi, 1972 "Military trucks park in relative safety in front of the French embassy. . . . In November 1971, however, American bombs accidentally struck the embassy." It sounds like the embassy was still pretty safe, but the attack on the U.S. Embassy by a squad of Viet Cong sappers on January 31, 1968, mentioned on p. 151, definitely sounded intentional.

Christopher Riley and his team do it again!
Christopher Riley has added another great book to his name. The genius behind "The Killing Fields" has decided to visit another era of modern history, and in the process has forced us to rethink our views of something we thought we knew. He gets Tim Page to help out in this effort, and it seems to be a good idea. The photos are shocking, and some of the propaganda photos completely uninteresting, but it is a great work. ... Read more

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Horst Faas and Tim Page's Requiem is a portfolio of work by combat photographers who died in Vietnam and Indochina. The photographers came from many countries.Some were famous, such Robert Capa and Sean Flynn; others will be remembered only thanks to this stunning book. Among the photographs presented here are some that everybody old enough to remember the war has seared into their memory: Larry Burrows's famous image of a first-aid station south of the DMZ, where a wounded black marine reaches out to his white brother; Huynh Thanh My's wrenching photographs of suspected Vietcongs' being tortured by government troops; Dana Stone's elegiac portraits of American soldiers marching to their deaths in the A Shau Valley. Requiem is a masterwork, a grim testimonial to a war that seemed as if it would never end--but that has too quickly been forgotten. ... Read more

Reviews (21)

A tribute to photojourmalism
This book is really a monument in memory of all the brave photographers who dedicated their lives to show the real face of war. There are not only great shots, but also very interesting biographic profiles who help us to understand the thinking of the reporters about their work and the extreme situations they were experiencing, staying with the troops on the field. An excellent book for everyone is interested in photoreportage and Vietnam War's history.

A superb book, full of memories.
This book is summarised for me by a quote from David Halberstam .. ' they could not, as we print people could, arrive a little late for the action, be briefed, and then, through the skilled use of interviews and journalism, re-create a scene with stunning accuracy, writing a marvelous you-are-there story that reeked of intimacy even though, in truth, we had missed it all. We could miss the fighting and still do our jobs. They could not.' To be a great combat photographer one had to get CLOSE to the action. That's why so many of them were killed. I spent a total of 15 months in Vietnam, from 1969 through 71. The grunt on the ground viewed reporters skeptically, suspecting that they got a lot of their stories in the bar of The Caravelle Hotel in Saigon. But not the photographers. They were regarded with awe. This book comes as close as can be done to evoking the feeling of the country and the war. My friends describe me as a little to the right of Gengis Khan; I think the book is superb. It has nothing to do with politics, just presenting the truth as best as can be done and honoring a bunch of brave men and women whose performance speaks for itself. If you buy only one book this year, this should be it

Haunting . . . and a memorial to anyone killed in Vietnam
As a photographer, I can't say I own "Requiem" out of sheer joy for the greatness of the photographs within. (No one who owns this book will keep it for that reason.) In fact, this is a book that can be at times painful to open up and look at.

Perhaps this reaction is the result of the dual reality one is presented with - not only are the photos depicting (at times) someone being killed, but you also know that the person who took the photograph was also killed. In one photograph you actually see the last photo taken by that journalist before he died.

So why own it? "Reguiem" is a proverbial granite memorial to anyone who was killed in Vietnam - American, South Vietnamese, North Vietnamese, whoever. By showing photographs from all sides it is able to maintain a level of objectivity that you won't find in many books. It just hits you with, "Here, this was the reality. Deal with it." Because of this it also acts as a book of history and not just one about photographers and their work.

But still, I think "Requiem" will particularly appeal to anyone who's interested in photography and photojournalism.

I'm reminded of the book "The Bang-Bang Club: Snapshots from a Hidden War" which is about photographers in South Africa and the fall of Apartheid. The photographers within that book are driven by excitment and adrenaline. They also want their photography to make an impact, to change the world. (A feeling many photojournalists share.) One of the photographers in that book, a man by the name of Kevin Carter who won the Pulitzer Prize winner for his shot of a dying Sudanese child, committed suicide as result of the desperation he felt.

"Requiem" is in some ways a complement to "The Bang-Bang Club" because it shows the ultimate sacrifice war photographers sometimes make in their pursuit of the craft. This makes the book that much more haunting. While some of these photos did alter our perspective on the world, they didn't really change it. So was their sacrifice worth it? You have to open the book to decide for yourself.

photographs from both sides
this is an incredible collection of photographs from the men and women photographers who shot for both sides of the war in vietnam. The text is brillantly written, the bio sections at the end is very in depth and the photographs are incredible. A masterful book.

Mind Blowing Photography.
The photographs in this book are absolutely mind blowing. They are a creditable testament to the memory of the incredibly brave and talented photographers who did not return from Vietnam and Indochina.

Some of the greatest photographers of all time are listed here. Some of their photographs have remained unseen for some 40 years.
Some of the photographs taken were the last visions seen by photographers who were actually killed whilst in the act of taking them.

The first hand reality of the 'at war' experience is brought home to the unitiated reader. To take these shots the photographers were of a necessity extremely close to the action and sometimes in the very midst of it. For their sacrifice in obtaining these images they lost their lives.

One can only sit back with awe at the scenes illustrated and wonder at the suffering, humanity & sometimes lack of it, that perpetuated these conflicts.

These photographers have done a great service in bringing home the reality of war to those who were not there. An amazing and fitting epitaph to those who fought, suffered and died on both sides. ... Read more

Book Description

Richard Evans Schultes (1915-2001) was probably the greatest explorer of the Amazon, and regarded among anthropologists and seekers alike as the "father of ethnobotany." Taking what was meant to be a short leave from Harvard in 1941, he surveyed the Amazon basin almost continuously for twelve years, during which time he lived among two dozen different Indian tribes, mapped rivers, secretly sought sources of rubber for the US government during WWII, and collected and classified 30,000 botanical specimens, including 2,000 new medicinal plants. Schultes chronicled his stay there in hundreds of remarkable photographs of the tribes and the land, evocative of the great documentary photographers such as Edward Sheriff Curtis. Published to coincide with a traveling exhibition to debut at the Govinda Gallery in Washington, D.C., The Lost Amazon is the first major publication to examine the work of Dr. Schultes, as seen through his photographs and field notes. With text by Schultes's protege and fellow explorer, Wade Davis, this impressive document takes armchair travelers where they've never gone before. ... Read more

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Berry, an Englishman who first made his way to South Africa as a teenager, has spent four decades documenting ordinary lives in extraordinary circumstances. After photographing the Sharpeville riots of 1960--a pivotal event--he elected to concentrate not on "the violent concentration between black and white, but the society that gave cause to it." His efforts to get "under the skin" of that tense society have resulted in a rich and enlightening chronicle of segregation that recalls the powerful photojournalism of W. Eugene Smith. ... Read more

Book Description

"These images, snatched by Graffenried without having been aimed, for to raise a camera to one's eye is to put one's life in danger, testify to a truth that no one is showing, that of daily fear and furor that you won't see on the six o'clock news."--Robert Delpire, Director of the Centre National de la Photographie in Paris, from his Foreword

Michael von Graffenried, an award-winning Swiss photographer, covertly photographed civil strife in Algeria from the early 1990s through 1998. In a land where Islamic terrorists have executed over sixty journalists and photographers in the last seven years, Graffenried's very survival is remarkable. His extraordinary accomplishment, however, is these photographs, which form a composite of Algeria that is more whole than the nation itself, fractured by one segment of the population in favor of democracy and another in favor of an Islamic state.

Graffenried makes his pictures secretly, using an antique Widelux panoramic camera with a hidden lens. He would risk his picture and his life were he to raise a camera to his eyes. Instead, he shoots from the hip, with his hands clasped over what looks like a pair of binoculars. In learning to frame his photographs without a viewfinder, he opens himself to a rich array of surprise and irony in his pictures, and reveals a society that has been concealed from the international community for nearly seven years.
... Read more

Reviews (2)

Searing and unforgettable images
As a photographer (albeit amateur) who has attempted to work inside other Arab countries photographing Islamist insurgencies and security forces, I have a huge amount of respect for the environment in which von Graffenreid attempted to work. He has succeeded hugely. His photographs are stark, absolutely searing, and freighted with undertones of almost unbearable tension. This book should be mandatory for anyone with an interest in photojournalism, combat photography, the Middle East, Islamist politics, and covert photography.

Algeria
Algeria gained independence from France July 5, 1962 when the Evian accords were signed. The country had been fighting a war of independence, led by the National Liberation Front, since the 1950's. More than one million Algerian's were killed and over two million have been internally displaced. On December 26, 1991, the Algeria's first multi-party general election took place. The military intervened in the election for fear that the Islamic Salvation Front would win the election. Early February 1992 a state of emergency was declared and since that time it's believed that over 100,000 Algerian's have been killed in the eight years of civil strife. Michael Von Graffenried photography and story are timely and incredible because it captures a people who are tired of conflict and who are struggling to stay alive. ... Read more

Book Description

With insightful essays—in English and Spanish—from Louis A. Pérez Jr., America's preeminent Cuba scholar, and Ambrosio Fornet, renowned Cuban author and screenwriter, Cuba: Picturing Change introduces the work of photographer E. Wright Ledbetter, whose images create a captivating portrait of the remarkable Cuban culture as it faces the complex forces of change.

Made from visits to Cuba over a four-year period (1997-2001), Ledbetter's photographs take us on a compelling journey within a culture pressured by numerous internal and external difficulties, where the resulting climate is saturated with the tension and uncertainty brought on by a political and economic future that continues to evolve with no clear direction.

Graphically alluring and rich in metaphor, Ledbetter's photographs focus on the overwhelming power and spirit of the Cuban people. They also explore what he believes is an imminent Cuban culture shift and inevitable redefinition of Cuban identity.

As Ledbetter's visual narrative unfolds, however, the photographs begin to reveal a greater depth and mystery, framed by the honest eye of a humanist and the compassion and perspective of an artist.

Cuba is a setting in which the questions surrounding its future become the questions all cultures face as social systems—political, economic, and otherwise—help shape human experience.

The photographs and essays of Cuba: Picturing Change emerge as a beautiful, balanced, and inclusive body of work. They capture one view of Cuba on the cusp of centuries, and at the same time explore the timeless art of human perseverance and the powerful current of the ever-changing human story. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Excellent Photography and Insight into Cuba!
I was drawn to the book by the powerful and fun photographic images. Ledbetter does an outstanding job capturing the images of Cuban life in a way that allows you to both celebrate it and to empathise with the struggle of the Cuban people.

The Essays are an unexpected extra in a book of this nature that make the work a multi-dimensional experience. It appeals to those interested in both Photography and Cuba. I highly recommend it!

Beauty, spirit & mystery
This magnificent collection of photographs captures the beauty, spirit and mystery of Cuba, the USA's often-overlooked neighbor... Ledbetter's clear, passionate and respectful eye has created a stunning work -- the book takes us far more deeply into the Cuban culture than the soundbites of recent news stories (Elian Gonzales, President Carter's visit) allow. Ledbetter's photographs and the accompanying essays make this book essential for anyone who wishes to understand Cuba more fully; the book also richly rewards the reader who simply appreciates great photography. ... Read more

Book Description

Taking viewers to places never seen by passengers, Jon Kral photographs aboard all six remaining real paddlewheel steamboats on the Mississippi River system.Imagine standing underneath the mighty American Queen, largest steamboat ever built, while in drydock. Stand a midnight watch in a wheelhouse that has no wheel.Experience a man overboard drill from the rescue boat.Text contributed by some of steamboating's most noted figures like noted musician and riverman John Hartford ("Gentle on My Mind"), legendary Captain Clark C. "Doc" Hawley, and naval architect Alan Bates, designer of the "Natchez". Over 100 sepia duotone photographs show the complete story of what it takes to run a steamboat. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Blends history with art and photography
Live Steam blends history with art and photography, providing a visual examination of paddlewheel steamboats on the Mississippi River which is photographed aboard all six remaining steamboats. Live Steam profiles not just the boats but their inner operations: while the approach is visual with brown duotones providing glimpses of operations and operators, it provides an important documentary of modern steamboat operations.

Wonderful and in a class of it's own!
"Live Steam" arrived today and it is absolutely fabulous. The pictures are breathtaking and showcase so many interesting aspects of the working steamboat and the people behind the scenes. Even the simplest task is brought to life with this book. The black and white portrayal in these photos is more vivid and colorful than any technicolor presentation could be of the same images. You have created a beautiful piece of art. We think the book is wonderful and in a class of it's own. You said you expected this book to surpass the previous two books and we think you have definitely done that with "Live Steam"! ... Read more

Book Description

This retrospective volume places Jack Leigh in the company of other documentary giants such as Walker Evans and Dorothea Lang. While technology and urban sprawl have transformed much of our country in the last half of the twentieth century, Jack Leigh has been quietly documenting the people and the landscape of the Southeastern coast, a region steeped in history and tradition. The Land I'm Bound To is the photographer's tribute to the richly diverse culture of his native region. His subjects range from solitary oystermen working the fog-shrouded salt marshes of South Carolina to shrimp fishermen at sea to the swamps and marsh flats along Georgia's Ogeechee River, as well as the massive cranes and freighters of Savannah's busy port. Here, Leigh is both inclusive and expansive, offering some of his most memorable images as well as recent work that synthesizes the beauty and emotional grip the South has on many of us. Foreword by Pat Conroy. 200 duotone photographs. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

A True Treasure
Anyone who has visited or even just read about the Southeastern coast will be drawn in and held spellbound by Jack Leigh's photographs. The emotion and connection that Mr. Leigh feels for his home comes flooding out of the pages in the form of places, people and light.

I have had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Leigh twice. Once 5 years ago when my husband and I stumbled on his gallery, and again when I brought my mother back to Savannah for the first time in 70 years. Both times Mr. Leigh was not only gracious but full of the stories about each one of his masterpieces. He is for real, folks! It is easy to see how he forms the relationships that produce his photographs. Having seen many of the original pieces in Mr. Leigh's gallery, I can atest to the quality of the printing and reproduction. Care was taken with this book.

One final word, pay particular attention to the work entitled "Cold Mellons." It is not only my favorite, but Mr. Leigh's first photograph. There is a whole story about how that piece almost didn't survive developing. Some things are just meant to be.

breathtaking photographs
I was drawn to this book because I am a huge Pat Conroy fan - I wasn't disappointed. All the images allowed me to understand the area and the people - they are beautiful photographs. ... Read more

Book Description

When renowned photojournalist Elizabeth Gilbert first came into contact with the Maasai over ten years ago, their images were everywhere in Africa. Pictures of warriors were printed on postcards, T-shirts, safari advertisements, and hotel logos, but in reality their traditional life was disappearing. So Gilbert — whose photographs have appeared in Time, Newsweek, Men's Journal, Life, and the New York Times — set out on a four-year journey to photograph what was left of traditional Maasailand. Broken Spears is the stunning result of that remarkable journey where Gilbert intimately and poignantly captures the majesty of these people. Over 120 images capture the rituals, secret ceremonies, and landscapes of the Maasai, documenting the life of this extraordinary tribe in the most comprehensive collection of photographs ever assembled. Gilbert's intimate relationship with the Maasai allowed her to photograph centuries-old Maasai ceremonies, including male and female circumcisions, weddings, and perhaps the most dangerous of all Maasai rituals, a lion hunt. A moving photographic journey into the vanishing culture of the Maasai warriors of Kenya and Tanzania, Broken Spears is a haunting testament to a rapidly disappearing way of life. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

A Passionate Portrait of a Great People
Most photographers either see the members of the noble Maasai tribe hastily when they are tourists or as photojournalists with limited time. Their images don't get far below the surface. On the other hand, photographer Elizabeth Gilbert worked many years, carefully and slowly to gain the Maasai's trust and understand who they are. The result of her efforts is abundantly clear in this moving book that documents their world in a great detail. We don't see flashy events performed for visitors but intimate milestones in their life like the passage to manhood and the rite of marriage. The book leaves us with a clear sense of who these people are and where they came from. In addition, Gilbert has given us a breathtaking view of the country in which they make their home. It is a standout in a field full of Africa books.

A remarkable record of a vanishing society
I read this pictorial record of the Maasai in one sitting from start to finish. Rather than being just another coffee table book with pretty pictures, Liz Gilbert intersperses her photographs with insightful essays documenting Maasai history, rituals, and traditions such as marriage, male and female circumcision, coming of age, and even a lion hunt with spears.

Gilbert has clearly done her homework regarding the Maasai, spending many years in Kenya to gain the trust of the tribesmen who allowed her to document their most intimate rituals. The black and white photographs she has assembled have a museum quality about them, especially the portraits.

The author took serious personal risks to achieve these photographs, with the lion hunt at the end representing but one example of her courage. Clearly, the book documents not only the vanishing society of the Maasai, but also a personal journey for the author. This book should be an inspiration for anyone interested in Africa.

STUNNING AND PASSIONATE!
This is a truly awe-inspiring book. I highly recommend it to anyone with even a passing interest in the Maasai or African cultures. In contrast to the recent slew of "white girl in Africa" books which have deluged newstands in recent years, Gilbert's book is a refreshing take on one of Africa's least accessible and mythologized cultures. Individually and collectively the photographs serve to honor a people who are consciously facing the erosion of their societial ways. Broken Spears is a must-have for any serious family book collection ... Read more

Book Description

When Diane Arbus died in 1971 at the age of forty-eight, she was already a significant influence--even something of a legend--among serious photographers, although only a relatively small number of her most important pictures were widely known at the time. The publication of Diane Arbus:An Aperture Monograph in 1972--along with the posthumous retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art--offered the general public its first encounter with the breadth and power of her achievements. The response was unprecedented.

The monograph of eighty photographs was edited and designed by the painter Marvin Israel, Diane Arbus's friend and colleague, and by her daughter Doon Arbus. Their goal in making the book was to remain as faithful as possible to the standards by which Diane Arbus judged her own work and to the ways in which she hoped it would be seen. Universally acknowledged a classic, Diane Arbus:An Aperture Monograph is a timeless masterpiece with editions in five languages and remains the foundation of her international reputation.

Thisanniversary edition celebrates one of the most important photographic books in history on the work of a single artist. Every image in this edition has been printed from new three-hundred-line-screen duotone film, bringing to the reproductions a clarity and brilliance unattainable until now. A quarter of a century has done nothing to diminish the riveting impact of these pictures or the controversy they inspire. Arbus's photographs penetrate the psyche with all the force of a personal encounter and, in doing so, transform the way we see the world and the people in it.
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Reviews (13)

the normalcy in life's freaks, the freakishness in normalcy
This collection of 81 black and white photographs by Diane Arbus was edited and designed by her daughter, Doon and friend Marvin Israel and published in 1972 after her suicide the previous year. The photographs are preceeded by text of tape recordings of classes that the photographer gave the year she died, as well as excerpts from interviews and some of her own writings on photography. The text illuminates Arbus' concerns about her art and her subjects. Although she did do studies of objects, such as Disneyland, a hotel lobby, and a Xmas tree, Arbus was more interested in people, in particular the kind of people she had never seen before. Coming from a wealthy Park Avenue background, existing in an unreal environment, cocooned from adversity, Arbus felt her immunity painful, which explains her attraction to marginalised groups. One can compare Arbus' studies to those of Robert Mapplethorpe. Mapplethorpe moved from harsh presentations of marginalised gay men's sexuality to soft focus celebrity portraiture. Arbus moved in the opposite direction, from glamour fashion photography with her then husband Alan, to her reality marginalised portraiture. Arbus' experience with fashion provides her composition and while her camera can scrutinise, her photos never patronise. Perhaps this is due to the complicitity apparent from the subjects. These people want to be photographed, and Arbus presents them with dignity. But what makes them compelling is the what Arbus described as the gap between intention and effect, what you want people to know about you and what you can't help people knowing about you. Sometimes, often the thing we see is sadness, but we can't laugh at these people because they are so unguarded. Arbus' photos aren't posed. She tells us how she arranged her view rather than arranging her subject, so that they are planned observations. The photographs here taken between 1962 and 1970 cover the range of her interest in marginalised subjects including the freaks she classified as "aristocrats" who were born with their trauma so had passed their test in life, and made her feel a mix of shame and awe. Midgets, dwarfs, nudists, transvestites, identical twins and triplets, a giant with his parents, musclemen, carnival performers, a woman with her baby monkey, and the untitled retards. This is the world Arbus entered into. It's hard not to consider her suicide as being related to the subjects of her work. Arbus was interested in exposing the flaw, and her camera gave her licence to privacy, however the cold scrutiny of her camera may have been too much when it was focused upon herself. The self portraits I have seen show her looking uncomfortable, the photographer clearly lacking the skills she would apply to her own subjects. There is a rumour that Arbus set up a camera to photograph her own death, mentioned in the Patricia Bosworth biography, though no evidence was found when her body was discovered. Like the great ones, Arbus received acclaim posthumously, and this book is an ode to her genius.

Simple, Brave, Beautiful !
As Diane Aubus said, 'Nothing is ever the same as they said it was. It's what I've never seen before that recognize.' She liked to visit unknown places, taking photos for unknown people (transvestite, nudist campers, Jewish giant, twins, etc). Reading through this collection of portraits, it would be a discovery-like journeys. Her braveness to approach the subjects. and into their places, and then into their souls. Those people are sometimes not 'beautiful', but you can see the inner world of those people under their faces. The untitled series at the end of book taken with some retarded people, I found that is certainly striking. Finally she committed suicide in 1971, just like leaving an unresolved story ending in her works.

If you are into B/W photos, it is a must buy.

Our World in the Eyes of Diane Arbus
A rather interesting, yet democratic photographer, Diane Arbus was an individual who was never afraid. She was a motivational and influential photographer whose life possessed no limits. Her subject matter was unique in that the pictures she took were on the abnormalities of life. These subjects centered mostly on freaks such as midgets, drag queens, giants, hookers, nudists, and drugees. Taking pictures such as these shows that she was a person who was never afraid to display the irregularities of life to the world around us.

Diane Arbus lived life one day, one moment at a time. In this book, I get the feeling that her pictures show a meaning in the way she captured life, not just focusing on the photograph alone. Her subjects depicted on each page makes the viewer wonder how she got herself as well as her subjects in that position. Were they cooperative or not? Did she tell them to strike a pose or did they do it on their own? Each of her pictures in the book have a story behind it and some would seem more interesting than others. From her book, I see that the significance of her life and her photography is through this quote "The thing that's most important to know is that you never know. You're always sort of feeling your way."

Very Intriguing!
The photography of Diane Arbus has always intrigued me. Her photographs are beautiful to me not because of the composition or lighting or any tools a photographer might use. They intrigue me because of her subject matter and even more so because of the intentions behind her subject matter. She takes pictures of people that are not considered beautiful, people that are "freaks" or "weirdos", or in some way different. She wants the viewer to identify with her subject in some way. In a way she takes the ugly, the thing that you're afraid to look at on the street and forces you to look at it and beyond that see it as art. She is "not evading facts, not evading what it really looks like". I agree with her purpose. It is best to show thing as they really are and to photograph something familiar or something often looked at is sort of boring to me.

For her, taking pictures was not about the final image - because she believed that anything you plan never turns out the way you intend anyways - but it was about the experience. It was about learning and making connections with her subjects. This was interesting to me because I never thought of photography that way. Mostly when I photograph I am so concerned with the final product, but now I realize that I actually enjoy the process of taking the pictures and dislike the developing. So I see photography in the same way, it is some how meditative and the actual action of photographing helps me release a certain kind of creative energy that I harbor.

Seeing beauty and the beauty of seeing
When we see flaws in others, why is it so hard to look away? Does it make us feel somehow better about ourselves? Maybe that is the case for some, but not Diane Arbus. What her photography attempts to convey is that beauty can be found, even in the most unexpected of places. Although, her ideal of beauty isn't the kind that compels people to go to a plastic surgeon to make themselves "pretty", or more pleasing to the eyes of other, it is nonetheless valid because it goes much deeper than the hollow image that beauty has become in contemporary society to many. Indeed, just one look at her work will illustrate that as she simply prefers the common people who are found everywhere from suburban lawns to skid rows, strip clubs to asylums, dance halls to darkened rooms. Perhaps, most important to her vision is that these people have flaws, just as everyone does and it is precisely these "flaws" that attracted Arbus' to the subjects portrayed in this collection.
Although many of her subjects inhabit places that many of us would rather avoid, often coming to us in nightmares from which we struggle to awaken, by the snapping of the shutter somehow they are made real to us, safe, unassuming and even fragile. Looking, for instance, at a photograph entitled "Russian midget friends in a living room on 100th st, NYC" my initial thoughts are flooded by a kind of morbid curiosity, but then as I continue to gaze and I notice their, eyes and faces, their expressions, and their willingness to share their lives with us; yes we, the same people who so often greets them with cold stares and cruel words. Diane Arbus was able to see the beauty in that kind of courage, a kind that would make many of us shudder, and her photos reveals to us the brilliance of it. Like a flower sprouting from the mire and destruction of a battlefield, Arbus' photography hits us hard, but leaves no bruises. Hers are images that when viewing for only a moment, we will remember for years.
Through her depictions of dwarfs, giants, drag queens, nudists, crying children, transvestites, lonely women, weathered faces and mental patients, we are reminded that beauty can often be found where it is least expected. But this is not the beauty of celebrity or fame, perfection or contriviality, but that found in their shadows, in the dark and hidden places that exist everywhere and at all times. Through her daring and revolutionary work Arbus struggled to teach us how to see this often tortured beauty, and I think above all else her work accomplishes that, but only if we open our eyes and our minds and let that beauty in. ... Read more

Book Description

On September 11, the world was shown the face of bravery.As one woman so poignantly put it: "As we ran out, they ran in." These heroes were doing the job they do each day, protecting more than 8 million residents in the area of 320 square miles that is New York City.That horrible day, we were made heartbreakingly aware of the risks these people take daily; risks their loved ones knew all to well.First-hand witnesses to the heroism of the FDNY, the photographers of The New York Daily News knew these risks too.They have been covering the life and death situations - the human drama that fire creates - since the founding of The New York Daily News in 1919.These seasoned photographers of the Daily News have chased firetrucks in their radio cars since the earliest days of photojournalism, photographing children and animals being rescued from burning buildings, and capturing the disbelief on the faces of those gazing at the remnants of their lives, going up in smoke.These photographers know intimately the faces of those left behind in covering the all too many funerals, mourning with the families a loss felt not only across a city of millions, but acutely within a deeply bonded fraternity across the country.Culled from the archive of The New York Daily News, consisting of more than 6 million images, this book represents more than eighty years of the world renowned New York City Fire Department in action, fighting fires, rescuing lives, and bringing peace and order to chaos, fear, and destruction.In the Fire Department of New York, there are more than 11,400 Fire Officers and Firefighters.In addition, the FDNY includes 2,800 EMS and Paramedics personnel.This book is a tribute to their dedication, bravery, and humanity. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

A rich history in pictures
Patrice O'Shaughnessy and Shawn O'Sullivan are both New York Daily News Photographers and as such have compiled a tremendous aray of great pictures of New York's firefighters at work and at play.

These pictures span eight decades from the early 1920's to the present. They traverse a wide array of emotions from a group of firemen posing with a woman whose baby they helped deliver to a son visiting his dying father in the Burn Unit. There are also a tremendous amount of photos that show the FDNY at work and these are incredible in that they show such a consistent theme of self-sacrifice and personal discipline, tempered with the fun-loving, zest for life that these men have exhibited throughout the years.

This is a GREAT piece of photojournalism. 9-11 may have made this book more poignant, but it's the rich historical pictorial that makes it a treasure.

Title Speaks for its Self
By far,some of the most historic photographs of the FDNY. Just enough commentary to allow the photos to speak for themselves. A must for all Firefighters! ... Read more

Book Description

During the final, bloody days of South African apartheid, four remarkable young men-photographers, friends, and rivals-banded together. ... Read more

Reviews (6)

Excellent Read
This is a disturbing book. After the first three chapters I put it down and only picked it up again two months later. Perhaps I was just emotionally at low ebb the first time, but the brutal honesty of the descriptions in those first chapters got to me. Even though I am a South African and lived through that eventful period, I was unprepared for the honesty of the authors. At the second attempt I finished the book and am glad that I did as it is really well worth the read.

The book describes the experiences of four well-known South African press photographers, at the peak of the political transition period of the country. Of the four, only two survived. Most South Africans as well as international readers interested in photojournalism, will remember the killing of Ken Oosterbroek by a stray bullet while covering an unrest situation in the townships. And the whole world was shocked by the brilliant photograph of a starving Sudanese child with a vulture patiently waiting in the background. Kevin Carter committed suicide not long after winning a Pulitzer Prize for that image. Although the book deals mainly with their work experiences, it also provides insight in the personal lives of photojournalists. It focuses mainly on events in South Africa, especially during those eventful years in the early nineties. However, there are also references to other African countries. A few months before I read this book, I also read Out of America: A Black Man Confronts Africa by Keith Richburg. This was another excellent and very honest book by a black American journalist who was assigned to the African Desk of the Washington Post. The combination of these two books gives an excellent perspective on the Dark Continent and scares the hell out of you.

I can strongly recommend both these books. It is a must-read for anyone interested in photojournalism and for people interested in the political transition period of SA. People who enjoy biographies will also appreciate the book.

Five Stars
This is an exciting account of South Africa, as observed through the lenses of four "conflict photojournalists", roughly between the time of Mandela's release to South Africa's first non-racial elections. There is a gripping, raw and ultimately, compassionate, quality about the writing, and the photos powerfully convey the horrors that this country went through. Equally enlightening are the insights into conflict photography, and the moral issues that arise by being a witness (and recorder) of human suffering. This book would interest anyone who's ever wondered how conflict photographers get into those crazy situations, the risks they took (sometimes fatal), and the adrenaline-laced thoughts that rush through their minds.

Excellent story
Much more than simply a book about photojournalists, The Bang Bang Club tells a haunting tale about several young men growing up in a rapidly changing and often hostile world. The friendships that form and are later ripped apart by bullets and suicide comprise the bulk of this well-told history. That South Africa's most important history is taking place as a background only mkaes it that much more of an interesting and enjoyable read. Yes, there is some violence, but that violence defines the world these photographers live and work in.

Horrifyingly Satisfying
Not for the weak, The Bang Bang Club takes readers directly to the violence and brutality depicted in the four prize-winning photographs scattered throughout the pages. The writing is down and dirty, like the photographers themselves. But it works because of the subject. Get in click the photo and try not to throw up while you're doing it. Like most Yanks living a cozy life, I didn't know many details about the famous struggles in SA in the early 1990s. And I wouldn't have chosen to read a straight history. But the combination of first-person accounts of tragedy together with terrifically vivid and horrible photos and a gripping tale of danger lurking around every corner makes for an ideal way to learn something about that fascinating and difficult time in world history.

Brutal - not just the photos but the message as well
I can't even imagine how hard it was for these guys to write this book. Not only did they lose two of their best friends during the period covered by the book, not only did they have to watch people die in front of them, but they've come to realize that the photographs they were taking did not accomplishing what they hoped - to stop the violence. It's a harrowing but rewarding read, a real page turner. ... Read more

Book Description

Reviews (2)

Photojournalism In Progress - An Astounding Book
Anthony Suau is a brave photographer who has won not only the Pulitzer Prize for his coverage of the famine in Ethiopia but also a prize for his coverage of the war in Chechnya.Thus is it with credentials such as these that we are forced to pay close attention to this startling folio of black and white photographs of the response of Americans to the war in Iraq.It is work such as this that may bring the country to seriously ponder the situation in Iraq that daily appears to darken into yet another war of error not unlike the Vietnam experience.


The power of Suau's visual statement lies in the apparent simplicity of his extemporaneous views of the Americans' responses to the preemptive invasion of Iraq, its effects on the families of soldiers killed, the political outbursts of citizens in opposition to the war, the photographs transmitted from Iraq as seen in context of US newspapers and postings, the response to the capture of Saddam Hussein, etc. The photographs are