Category Archives: Photography

Jun 03 2014
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Books, History, Photography

Window on Early America

Vintage color photos reveal nation’s late-1800s beauty

 

An American Odyssey

By Marc Walter & Sabine Arqué

Hardcover, 600 pages (Taschen, $200)

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Yes, it’s pricey, and if it falls on your foot, you’ll know it—it’s one seriously big, heavy book. But it’s also a thing of beauty and wonder: a stunning collection of the first color photographs ever taken of America. Produced between 1988 and 1924 and marketed as picture-postcards by the Detroit Photographic Company, these images capture people, places and goings-on from nearly every state (at that time), in stunning clarity—wide open spaces, packed city streets, cowboys and Indians, miners and mill workers, railroads and rivers—a spectacular, century-old tapestry of the United States that unfurls, page by page, like a lost scroll of some of our nation’s earliest visual treasures.

 

—Neil Pond, American Profile Magazine

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May 30 2014
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Books, History, Photography

WWII Crash Course

Time-Life re-intros book line, promises to make ‘instant experts’

World War II in 500 Photographs

Softcover, 272 pages / $17.95 (Time-Life)

World War 2 in 50 Photographs

Marking a re-launch of the venerable Time-Life line that churned out many a bookshelf-filling volume in the 1960s and ’70s, this photo-packed chronicle of the world’s greatest conflict promises to make its audience “instant experts” through a sweeping, comprehensive mix of information and graphics. Timed for release around the 75th anniversary of the onset of WWII—and designed for a new readers accustomed to information packaged in easily digestible bits and bytes—it’s an engrossing encyclopedia of all the major personalities, conflicts and events of the war, including Pearl Harbor, D-Day and Iwo Jima, and also includes numerous stats, timelines and other data-rich features.

 

—Neil Pond, American Profile Magazine

 

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May 27 2014
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Books, Photography

Sun & Fun

A celebration of the joys of summer in words & pictures

Summertime

Summertime

Edited by Joanne Dugan

Hardcover, 144 pages, $29.95 / Kindle edition $12.99 (Chronicle Books)

 

Ah, summertime: Just the word itself evokes images of vacation, school-free childhood days stretching endlessly toward the horizon, sun and skies and warm-weather frolics. This lovely coffee-table collection captures the potent essence of that most special, universally nostalgic season with more than 80 photos, from a variety of photographers and depicting a spectrum of seasonal activities, with quotes and musings from writers, philosophers other notables—like St. Francis of Assisi, who noted, “A single sunbeam is enough to drive away many shadows.” Even better, of course, if that sunbeam is in the summer!

 

—Neil Pond, American Profile Magazine

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May 22 2014
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Books, Photography

Pedal People

A super-cool celebration of the Big Apple’s biker population

New York Bike Style cover

New York Bike Style

By Sam Polcer

Softcover, 224 pages

$29.95 (Prestel)

 

In New York, one of our most always-on-the-go cities, a lot of the going is on two wheels. The bike-friendly Big Apple’s avid cyclist population is celebrated in this collection of images by photographer Sam Polcer, whose popular blog, PreferredMode.com, also attests to his favorite way of getting around town. ­Every photo—of commuters, BMX kids, fashionistas and a spectrum of other pedalers and pumpers from all the city’s five boroughs—is accompanied by a caption with the subject’s name, what kind of bike they’re riding, where the picture was taken, and where they’re heading. Riding a bike never looked so cool.

 

—Neil Pond, American Profile Magazine

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May 07 2014
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Books, History, Photography

Books & Beauty

A photographic tribute to libraries and the treasures they hold

The Public Library

The Public Library

By Robert Dawson

Hardcover, 192 pages, $35 (Princeton Architectural Press)

 

Photographer Robert Dawson spent nearly 20 years crisscrossing the country and clicking away inside and outside public libraries of all shapes and sizes, from majestic urban cathedrals to humble remote house trailers. In addition to hundreds of evocative color and black and white images, this beautiful collection of his work features a foreword by Bill Moyers, an afterword by Ann Patchett, and essays, letters and poetry celebrating libraries and reading by Anne Lamont, Amy Tan, E.B. White, Dr. Seuss and others. It’s a literary feast for the eyes and food for the soul for anyone who loves books and appreciates libraries for the treasures they hold.

—Neil Pond, American Profile Magazine

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May 07 2014
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Books, History, Photography, Pop Culture

West Coast Wavelength

L.A.’s sizzling sounds in pop music’s formative years

Turn Up the Radio Final

Turn Up The Radio: Rock, Pop, and Roll in Los Angeles 1956-1972

By Harvey Kubernik

Hardcover, 336 pages, $45 (Santa Monica Press)

 

Fans of classic rock will flip over this treasure trove of photos, interviews and other insider info about how the sizzling sounds of Southern California spread to the rest of America—and the rest of the world. This lovingly detailed illustrated narrative shines the spotlight on the Doors, the Beach Boys, the Byrds, the Rolling Stones, Frank Zappa, Sonny & Cher, The Monkees, Elvis Presley and other acts that made the L.A. scene such a hotbed for performers of the era, plus the producers, recording engineers, studio musicians, DJs and others pivotal to the popular music’s formative West Coast years.

—Neil Pond, American Profile Magazine

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Apr 16 2014
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Books, Photography

Hooked

Feel the surf, taste the brine in this photographic tour of coastal fishing

Salt-Coastal and Fly Fishing

Salt: Coastal & Flats Fishing

Photography by Andy Anderson

Hardcover $55 (Rizzoli International)

 

Lean into the sea breeze, taste the brine, feel the tug of the tide: This handsome collection of 180 large-size, full-color images—and essays by fly-fishing expert and author Tom Rosenbauer—takes you on a guided tour of America’s top fishing hot spots. You may not actually be the one wading into the surf, casting the line and hauling in the striped bass, tuna, and tarpon in New England, the Pacific Northwest, the Bahamas, the Gulf Coast and the Florida Keys. But as you lose yourself in this vividly illustrated ode to the sheer joy of fishing, you might easily forget you’re not really there.

—Neil Pond, American Profile Magazine

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Apr 10 2014
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Books, Photography

Play Time

Poignant portraits of kids and their favorite playthings

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Toy Stories

By Gabriele Galimberti

Hardcover, 110 pages ($24, Abrams Image)

 

The premise is simple enough: kids and their toys. But photographer Galimberti, who spent three years traveling the world for this project, brings out a spectrum of diversity—and makes a poignant statement about the universality of play—in these 54 meticulously posed portraits of individual children from America, India, China, Fiji, Iceland and dozens of other countries posing with their favorite dolls, games, stuffed animals, plastic guns, action figures, balls and bats or other tokens of activity, companionship and imagination.

 

—Neil Pond, American Profile Magazine

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Mar 12 2014
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Books, Photography, Pop Culture

Meow Wow

Tips to turn your kitty-cat into an online sensation  

How To Make Your Cat An Internet Celebrity

How to Make Your Cat an Internet Celebrity

By Patricia Carlin

Photography by Dustin Fenstermacher

Softcover $12.95 (Quirk Books) / Kindle edition $9.99

Anyone with a computer knows that cats rule the Internet these days. So why not capitalize on the kitty craze? This humorous how-to manual shows you how to turn your feline into an online hit—and potential financial fur ball—with step-by-step instructions on picking out a “stage name,” setting up photos, shooting a viral video, selecting costumes and other props, and determining your cat’s purr-sonality (e.g., sweet baby, lazy bum, daredevil, moron, crazy). Don’t have a cat? Don’t worry—you’ll still howl at the outrageously funny photos and go-for-it advice.

 —Neil Pond, American Profile Magazine

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Mar 06 2014
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Books, Photography

The Disappearing Doggie

Can you locate the well-concealed canine?

Find Momo

Find Momo

By Andrew Knapp

Softcover, $14.95 (Quirk Books)

Also available for Kindle, $10.49

 

A few years ago, the author-photographer discovered how much his border collie, Momo, loved playing hide-and-seek. After Knapp began posting photos online of his adorable pooch peeking out from all kinds of settings, Momo soon was an Internet sensation with more than 100,000 Instagram followers (@ #findmomo). Now Momo’s got his own book, with even more delightful, artfully created challenges for dog lovers to find the canny canine in New York City’s Central Park, snow banks, lake waters, a roadside wood pile, the diorama of an outdoor shop, and dozens of other colorful Where’s Waldo?-esque locations.

—Neil Pond, American Profile Magazine

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