Documentary-Collection Books

This is an enormous book - guaranteed to give your biceps, as well as your eyes, a workout. The photos are well-chosen and sumptuous and great fun to look at. The older photos of the glamorous stars are always going to be my favorites. Seeing Deborah Kerr next to Roseanne shows us just how far American pop culture has fallen. A real treasure; I will be looking through this volume again and again.

I can't recommend this book enough. It's a massive book of pictures from all sort of movie stars at their homes, with their pets, out on the town, at premieres...
It's really really great.
The cover shows Marilyn Monroe at the 1961 Golden Globes if I remember correctly

North Korea's always in the news and so a book like INSIDE NORTH KOREA is essential not just to college-level holdings with books on North Korea, but to general-interest collections as well. The public library will especially appreciate this book's format: an oversized photo exhibit which pairs well-researched essays and commentary by North Korea experts with images of North Korean peoples and places. Perfect for any collection seeking a solid introduction.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

I recently reviewed Philippe Chancel's excellent photographic book North Korea and Mark Harris in his book has filled in more of the jigsaw. The Chancel book essentially covered the capitol Pyongyang and Harris contributes twenty general shots, too. Additional capitol coverage includes the amazing Arirang Mass Games, the Children's Palace, the Korean film studio and five shots of the USS Pueblo.

The strength of this book is the coverage outside of the capitol. No doubt under strict supervision Harris visited Kaesong, Geumgangsen, Sinuiju, Paektusan and the Tumen River along the northeast border region. The photos show the countryside and rather bleak looking cities and towns. Everywhere bikes seem the principal means of transport and everywhere there are the slogans of good cheer to inspire the masses. On page 135 there is photo of a hillside above the town of Sanbong with huge letters spelling out: 'Bravo Mr Kim who is the Greatest Sunshine of the 21st Century!' No doubt it keeps hillside typographers busy.

The last section covers the countryside along the Demilitarised Zone with its two and a half mile wide strip of land 151 miles long. The photos here are a mixture of military presence and agricultural folk existing (on either side) in this volatile flashpoint. One photo shows the world's tallest flagpole, 525 feet high, towering above the village of Kichong-dong (wouldn't such a structure make a super espionage something or other?).

I liked the book with its mixture of travel and politics (SS Pueblo, DMZ and Panmunjeom) presented in slightly raw, gutsy photos whereas Chancel's style is photographically softer and his book is the more elegant of the two. Both books are certainly worth a look if you want see a little bit of a forbidden country and you'll most likely see more of it than many of the people who live there.

***FOR AN INSIDE LOOK click 'customer images' under the cover.

This is a beautiful book with many photographs which bring back special memories to those who have a connection with U of IL. It will be a special treasure for anyone who attended the university. Many different aspects of university life are covered by Don Hamerman's fabulous photographs. A great gift for alumni, current students or those who hold a special place for Urbana/Champaign and the University of Illinois in their memories.

This is an absolute must have for Univ. of Illinois alumni who appreciate good photography. In talking with other alumni who have seen and/or own this book, the images bring up memories from their time on campus. It also tweaks the curiosity, because Hamerman shows a penchant for finding new perspectives (close-ups, etc.) that can be overlooked in the rush of campus life. Compared to other photography of the UI campus I've seen, this is very original. And Ebert's introduction is a nice read -- it ties in wonderfully to the book. I highly recommend!

Koudelka is an icon of 20th century photography. His images, shot with Leica cameras capture the rape of Prague by the Soviet Union. All printed beautifully in this tome.

I received my copy of Invasion 68 the week that Russian tanks where rumbling their way through Georgia.

Almost 40 years to the day that the same thing happened in the then Czechoslovakia.

As a work of photo journalism Invasion 68 is very impressive, its images sadly timeless.

This photography book is absolutely amazing! It features a very interesting and eloquent foreword by Jon Lee Anderson, who just had an article on Iraq in the New Yorker (Nov. 19), thus being not only a great writer, but also an insider on the siutation in Iraq. The photographs by Christoph Bangert are captivating, beautiful, and shocking all at once. You can't help but turn to the next page, even though many of the subjects are hard to take in. Bangert shows us a different view of the conflict in Iraq, addressing the Iraqi victims as much as the situation of the American soldiers. I found this book to be informative without trying to be lecturing or preaching, just quiet photographs leaving me as the viewer with my own thoughts and contemplations. The images are powerful, the quality of the photographs and the layout is convincing. PowerHouse managed to publish this photography book for an amazing value on top of it being a book you will pick up over and over again, the images just won't leave me alone.

In a book with next to no words, this collection by Christoph Bangert quite possibly says more about Iraq than many books available today. At great risk of harm to himself, Bangert traveled Iraq with anyone who would let him follow along. The result is one of the most candid looks at what has happened in the country over the past several years.

The images are in a word, stunning. While it's possible to flip through the book quickly and not let the pictures sink in, doing so robs the book of its true value. Someone stumbling across this book in a store while shopping will most likely give the book only a cursory glance, but sitting down and really giving this book the time it deserves means getting lost in a single picture for 10 minutes or more. It took me over two hours to finish a book with no words. That's impressive. Some of the images are quite disturbing and graphic, so please prepare yourself for a sometimes shocking experience.

Anyone with more than a passing interest in Iraq should find "reading" this book a highly rewarding experience, as well as anyone who loves beautiful photography.

Unlike many of its predecessors, The Irish Century does not portray Ireland as an embattled war zone wrought in a conflict that has devoured its culture. Instead, through wonderful photographs, Michael MacCarthy Morrogh and Neil Jordan have brought to the surface a true vision of Ireland and the Irish. Through photos, the everyday life of the Irish has been beautifully preserved. This life, although at times characterized by poverty, tyranny, and war, nonetheless was filled with joy and hope. The sharp juxtaposition of an beautiful Irish wedding and the Eater Rebellion of 1916 speaks to this varried life of this, The Irish Century.

This book does a great job explaining the complicated modern history of Ireland. No one side is made the hero, nor is one side made the villian. This is a rare un-biased history of Ireland and features not only great photo's but outstanding writing.

Put this beautiful book of Saudek's hand-colored photographs on your coffee table and wait for an unsuspecting guest to pick it up! That is exactly how I was introduced to the equisite artistry of Jan Saudek. Rarely seen outside of Europe, Saudek's imaginative and erotic photos are at once sensual and disturbing in composition.

This is a very interesting and beautiful book

I've been digging Marshall's work for 25 years-ever since I got my first copy of "The Allman Brothers Band Live At Fillmore East". I'm not a photographer but something in the way he composes his shots moves me. Mostly, tho', it is the quality of the contrast between black and white- and the richness of the color in his photographs. I'm sure it all has something to do with the equipment, exposure, film, etc. People like he, Adams and Claxton make black and white as sexy as color-if not more so. If you love jazz, you will find some iconic pictures here as well as some that have probably never been seen. Lets' put it this way, if I had the chance to have one photographer shoot me as a musician, it would be him. I once called him up out of the blue to talk photography (which I know next to nothing about) because I was/am such a fan. Just the finest technique that makes the pictures seem three dimensional. Long live Jim Marshall.

After the superb Not Fade Away and Proof Jim Marshall comes out with his 3rd book covering his Jazz (and Blues) period. Iconic images that will surprise fans who only know his Rock photos. The foundation that built the Marshall mystique. To be enjoyed drinking 16 year old Lagavulin single malt Scotch and listening to superb jazz vinyl (Monk, Prez, Diz,Trane, Miles, etc..) on a good turntable/stereo system. One can only hope for the long rumoured Color book next. A must get for your music and photo book library!

It's a nice book. There's an interesting and recent interview with Mekas(2000), but it's mainly a photobook, with very beautiful images extracted from Mekas films.

When you see his films in the cinema you just want to see more and more but you can't. His films are shown so rarely that if you want to in any way relive the experience you must own this book. It contains stills from all his past films (Diarys), often the most memeroable bits. There is also an interview in which he explains himself and why he makes films like he does.

A fittingly huge tribute to the man who captured Modernism in western America and especially in California. I thought the beauty of these three large books (check out the weight and dimensions in the Product Details section) was the way they are organized: historically using Shulman's own job reference numbers. Obviously there is not going to be a photo of every commission because a lot of his time was spent on what he calls 'bread and butter work'. So book 1 starts with #0003 in 1939 with Gregory Ain's Scheyer residence in LA and book 3 ends in 1981 with #5976 Augustin Hernandez's studio in Mexico City. Although Shulman is working again, with German photographer Juergen Nogai, the contents of the three books are based on the 250,000 negatives he presented to the Getty Research Institute upon retiring in 2004.

I get the impression looking through the pages that there maybe more interior photos than exteriors and what a visual treat these interiors are. In photo after photo there is a sense of spaciousness so typical of most modernist houses and many of the shots show how rooms extend into other living areas.

The interiors from the Forties to the late Seventies also yield a fascinating opportunity to study the furniture and fittings the owners thought would work well in a modern home. Because of the large page size some of these domestic interior photos are twenty-three inches wide on a spread so the detail is amazing. Another interesting point about a Shulman photo is the addition of people in his work. Apparently frowned upon by architects in the past he took the view that it was an opportunity to reduce the purity (and possibly elitism) of Modernism in a domestic setting.

Apart from all the great home photos, commercial work includes: corporate headquarters of large companies, schools, research facilities, banks, retail units and restaurants. The same sense of space and depth comes across in these images and I think you'll come to the same conclusion as I did about Shulman's photography: that he always managed to frame his compositions to captured the spatial essence of a building.

The production of the three books is exemplary as you would expect from Taschen. The hundreds of photos are printed on quality paper with a 200dpi screen and presented in an elegant but simple layout. Each featured commission has between one and six photos with a short piece of background copy. All of this is a wonderful tribute to a remarkable architectural photographer. I know I'll be enjoying these three books for a long, long time.

***FOR AN INSIDE LOOK click 'customer images' under the cover.

These books were my birthday present to myself, and I can't imagine a better gift! They are GORGEOUS and huge, with full-page photos (some in color) on heavy paper, and text for each spread. The architecture is inspired, and, as always, Shulman's photographs capture the spirit, innovation, and excitement of the times. Too bad such individualism has given way to cookie-cutter McMansions and, with few exceptions, lackluster design seen everywhere in today's architecture.

The only criticism I have of these books is that, as with most mid century architectural tomes, most of the photos in the book are from locations in California by architects we've already heard of. I would like to see photos of buildings in other parts of the country by lesser known, but equally inspired, architects.

Finally, I hope that, with the abundance of photos in Shulman's archive, this Modernism Rediscovered series continues with more books in the future. I know that I will be first in line to buy future volumes if they are as well done as the original Modernism Rediscovered book and these three follow-up books.