Documentary-Collection Books

You will swear that some of these images are pencil drawings and others a part of a dream. William Abranowicz is a gifted photographer whose passion for pristine landscapes and still life reinvents this artform. As a collector of his work, I was thrilled to see his first book published. The world has enjoyed his images without knowing they were enjoying the world through his eyes. Through his lens, we see a world that invites all the senses to be aroused. I will cherish this book as a personal treasure from my friend.

Writer Alan Tennant succintly describes the striking geology of the nearly all-limestone Guadalupe Reef and the post Ice-Age remant forest that perches on its summit and in some canyon recesses. However, even more interesting, to this reader, is his account of the human history of the Guadalupe Mountains, from the collision between the Apaches and the Latin or Anglo invaders to the rather improbable concatenation of events that led to the protection of the place as a national park, in a region that tends to be hostile to public ownership of land and environmental protection.
The book only follows the story up to the first couple of years after the opening of the Park, but, other than some water-mining in the vicinity that poses an indirect threat, not much has changed since then.
Michael Allender's photographs are still the best visible representation of the Park available, even in this day of internet picture-posting. In fact, Tennant weaves the figure of the non-conformist Allender into the account in a way that adds a strong dramatic and personal value to the book, without making it over-literary in a way that might weigh on some readers.

Christopher Bucklow has done what thousands of young and mature artists hope to do in a lifetime: create something new that has never been seen before. He has done it useing pinhole images of sun light and video / hand formed images, creating dream bodies of light. These are not real people but images from his dreams and imagination, not bad! I would not hesitate to say this type of art that will remain with us for some time, while much of the instillations and abstract works that permiate galleries across the globe will become mere memories, if remembered at all. Get the book!! jb

In Search Of Dignity is an amazing book for anyone intereseted in cultural anthropology and photography. I perused these pages one time on Amazon and realized that it was an important profile of people untouched by todays materialistic lifestlyes. They indeed still live as their ancestors and tribes before them and its remarkable how real these people are. Mind you many of the bodies are scarred, tattood, and pierced but it just brings out the symbolism of their beliefs. I thought this book was well done and it should be praised not lauded. The text written is very informative as well, but its the photography that makes this book unforgettable

The back cover describes this as "a wholly unprecedented form of novelistic photojournalism."

It's unprecedented, alright. I've never seen anything like it. If you appreciate photography, and/or you're fascinated with psychology, and you have the intellectual curiosity to enjoy a new kind of documentary, buy this book.

The last time a book had this strong an effect on me was when I read Dalton Trumbo's "Johnny Got His Gun" in high school. Since then I've read many hundreds, perhaps thousands of books. I read an average of 4 books a week. I haven't seen anything really fresh for a very long time.

If one has a photographic book of the Hamptons, it must be Ken Miller's, The Hamptons, Long Island's East End. The collection of photographs represent the overall feeling of this beautiful area. Wonderful pics with a unique perspective I could'nt be more pleased by my purchase.

"Harold!" captures the exciting years of polical evolution in Chicago from 1983 to 1989. I was part of Harold's administration, working to bring in Asian Americans and immigrants in a city that was limited by racial boundaries. I worked with the photographers who put this together and their images show what words alone cannot: Harold Washington's magic and the movement behind him, of which I became a part, brought Chicago into a modern reality. In addition to the white ethnic base of the city that the old machine brought in, Harold showed that by going beyond the patronage approach and including the excluded would work for everybody. American politics are still driven by personalities and Harold's made this all possible. Latinos and African Americans (as the book notes- Carole Moseley Braun and now Presidential frontrunner Barack Obama)are now mainstream parts of Illinois' politics. Asians are still working at it and Harold's anniversary rededicates that evolution.

Harry Callahan was the most influential and important figure in photography throughout the last half of the 20th century. This edition of his work shows chronologically how Callahan's approach to the medium evolved and changed, while his vision remained ever faithful to modernity. The book begins in Detroit, where Callahan worked for Chrysler while pursuing photography as a serious hobby. It was also during this time that he married Eleanor Knapp, who would later become the subject for many of his strongest images. The accompanying essay by Sarah Greenough is succinctly written, blending biographical information to the photographs Callahan took throughout his long, photographic journey (Callahan died in 1999). Callahan's outlook on photography changed dramatically after having met Ansel Adams, at a photography workshop in Detroit. Taking some of Adams' philosophy and refining it, Callahan created his own style of photographing/printing, made apparent by such images as `Weeds in Snow' and `Detroit, 1942'. In these images and throughout the rest of his life, Callahan easily turned the simplest subject matter into monumental works of photographic art. The book provides powerful examples of this, in both black & white and color. After leaving his job to pursue photography full time, Callahan moved to Chicago and taught at the Institute of Design. Continuing the experimentation he began in Detroit, Callahan worked and refined his style during his Chicago years, utilizing double exposure, collage, close-ups, and the use of positive and negative space. The book then turns to Callahan's New England period. It was during this time that Callahan taught at the Rhode Island School of Design, in Providence. The book captures this period vividly, with images of varying contrast and mood. Here we see Callahan's ability at adapting to his environment by producing increasingly poetic images of nature, as well as urban and suburban street scenes. In his later work from 1972-1992, the photographs in "Harry Callahan" document the photographer's travels in other countries, with an increased attention on color. It remains clear by the images shown in his later years, that Callahan continued to explore photography by constantly challenging himself and the medium. Where most photographers are known for one particular style or body of work (Cartier-Bresson's `decisive moment' or Robert Frank's publication of The Americans), Callahan is known for many different styles and bodies of work. The photographs in "Harry Callahan" prove this with each turn of the page. Callahan was a photographic artist in the truest sense, if we choose to believe an artists' goal is not only to create but to constantly evolve. Callahan was, continues to be, and always will be an influence to those photographers who seek not only perfection in the creation of their photographic art, but also change.

Beautiful says it all about the photography, writing and printing in this book!

I used these postcards for invitations to my wedding reception. We had a hawaiian luau theme. The guests absolutely loved the postcards and most kept them as keepsakes from the wedding! And the pictures on the postcards are absolutely wonderful! Looking at these postcards is about as close as you'll ever get without actually going to Hawaii.