Tag Archives: Photography Books

Photography: Edward Burtynsky’s ‘African Studies’ (Steidl – 2022)

Steidl – In Edward Burtynsky’s recent photographs, produced across the African continent, the patterns and scars of human-altered landscapes initially appear to form an abstract painterly language; they reference the sublime and often surreal qualities of human mark-making.

While chronicling the major themes of terraforming and extraction, urbanization and deforestation, African Studies conveys the unsettling reality of sweeping resource depletion on both a human and industrial scale.

From natural landscapes to artisanal mining and mechanized extraction, several distinct chapters culminate with China in Africa: a series depicting the economic inroads being made by China, including the interiors of gigantic newly built manufacturing plants. This project brings together the work of seven years, presenting the latest installment in Burtynsky’s ongoing œuvre.

Get your own copy here: https://steidl.de/Books/African-Studi…

Travel & Photography: ‘Greek Islands’ (May 2022)

An endless expanse of shimmering waters paired with unmatched Greek hospitality awaits visitors to the islands of the Aegean Sea. Each island is home to a unique spirit and mythology.

From Patmos (a favorite of Aga Khan) to Hydra (which captivated Henry Miller, Leonard Cohen and Sophia Loren), the islands are imbued with a seductive sense of history, tradition and adventure. 

 Several films over the decades have been filmed on them, including Boy on a Dolphin (1957) on Hydra, The Big Blue (1988) on Amorgos and The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (2005) on Santorini.

Sources of inspiration for millennia, the ancient ruins, cliffside monasteries and volcanic rims are all can’t-miss sights. Venturing on an Odyssey of their own, the author and the photographer boarded a traditional Greek sailboat and set out to capture the calming atmosphere, quintessential characters and breathtaking architecture of these gems of the Aegean. A spectacular journey re-created in the pages of Greek Islands.

Read more

New Books: ‘San Francisco – Portrait Of A City’ (2022)

Starting with an early picture of a gang of badass gold prospectors who put this beautiful Northern California city on the map, this ambitious and immersive photographic history of San Francisco takes a winding tour through the city from the mid–nineteenth century to the present day.

The Streets of San Francisco

An epic pictorial history of the City by the Bay

Enjoy eye-catching views of the city’s most enduring landmarks and symbols: the Golden Gate BridgeChinatown, the picturesque trams that wind up and down the famously steep hills, the popular waterfront, its beautiful bay, and its spectacular cityscapes and vistas. San Francisco’s counterculture movements that shaped our collective consciousness are also featured prominently: the beats of North Beach, the hippies of Haight-Ashbury, the gay communities of Castro, and the Black Panthers of neighboring Oakland. Some of the city’s most famous residents also make appearances: Robin Williams, The Grateful Dead, Angela Davis, Janis Joplin, Sylvester, and Allen Ginsberg, among others.

This book features hundreds of newly found images from dozens of archives including museums, universities, libraries, galleries, private collections, and historical societies, from 19th-century daguerreotypes to mid-century Kodachromes to 21st-century digital pictures. Master photographers include, among others: Stephen Shore, Imogen Cunningham, Fred Lyon, Steve Schapiro, Minor White, Dorothea Lange, Albert Watson, Robert Frank, Garry Winogrand, William Claxton, Fred Herzog, Ansel Adams, Jim Marshall, and many local shooters. Also includes introductory essays and captions by Bay Area–based author Richie Unterberger and a “Best of San Francisco” books, music, and movies section and biographies of the photographers. Tony Bennett famously sang, “I left my heart in San Francisco,” and this meticulously researched and conceived portrait will equally inspire and make you fall in love with the spirit of the City by the Bay.

Read more

Travel Books: ‘Geneva: At the Heart of the World’

Situated on Lake Geneva and surrounded by mountains, Geneva is a cosmopolitan gem in the Switzerland landscape. Home to various organizations including the United Nations, the World Health Organization and the Red Cross, Geneva is a city of diplomacy, charity and finance that accommodates both Swiss authenticity and international interests. 

However, Geneva is not all business; museums, the finest watchmakers, and chocolate is available to visitors and entertainment in the form of theater, festivals, and biennales are in abundance.

Presented in partnership with GVA2 Association, an organization dedicated to fostering the growth of Geneva, this title invites readers to explore all that Geneva has to offer, from its historical landmarks to its cultural diversity. Anecdotes from prominent figures in the community supplement the stunning imagery of a city on the verge of greatness.

Kyra Dupont is a French journalist and author born in Geneva with two masters in international relations and journalism. She has worked as a reporter for the written press, radio and television in several countries and headed the international news section of the daily newspaper 24 heures in Lausanne.

Read more

Travel & Culture Books: ‘Gstaad Glam’ (Assouline)

In the southwest corner of Switzerland, nestled among the snowy mountains of the Swiss Alps is the picturesque, upscale resort town of Gstaad. Teeming with exclusive ski clubs and a fur coat–clad jet set, Gstaad is the definition of Alpine chic, which is evident in the luxurious, family-owned Gstaad Palace, the members-only restaurant The Eagle and the high-fashion boutiques that line the town’s main promenade.

It is this combination of opulence and quiet that has attracted a plethora of celebrities including Madonna, Grace Kelly, Stavros Niarchos and Julie Andrews, to name a few. While glitz and glamour are in abundance, local tradition and culture are always close by. Whether it’s in the Pinte Bar at Hotel Olden that exudes authentic charm or a farm on the outskirts of town showcasing a quaint, pastoral lifestyle, this beautiful volume showcases Gstaad’s elegant traditions and unexpected treasures.There is no shortage of amusements in Gstaad.

It is nature at its finest that yearns to be explored. With 124 miles of slopes, visitors can participate in skiing, snowboarding and sledding in the winter months and hiking, biking, polo and golf in the summer. Gstaad’s calendar is packed with can’t-miss events including the Swiss Open, hot-air balloon festival and Menuhin Festival of music. And after a long day of hitting the slopes and experiencing all Gstaad has to offer, cozy up with a cup of hot chocolate from the decades-old Charly’s, the perfect spot to people-watch along the Promenade.

Read more

Books: “The Grand Tour – The Golden Age Of Travel”

This richly illustrated volume charts the travel heyday of 1869 to 1939. Bedecked with ephemera and precious turn-of-the-century photochroms, it follows six classic tours favored by Western adventurers in the prewar era, including such famous traveler-writers as Charles Dickens, Jules Verne, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Mark Twain, and Goethe. 

The Grand Tour

Rediscover the golden age of adventure

Global travel can be a wearying business: mass tourism, overcrowded planes, chaotic airports, heightened security, cookie-cutter hotel chains, well-worn tourist trails. Finding even a sliver of adventure can sometimes feel impossible. But take heart: for all of us with an unfulfilled spirit of wanderlust, The Golden Age of Travel evokes an era when traveling the world was a thrilling new possibility for those with the resources, time, imagination, and daring.

 From the Grand Tour of Europe, a traditional rite of passage for young English aristocrats, to the Far East, barely touched by Western influence, to the famous Trans-Siberian Railway, we follow each journey through its itinerant stops and various modes of transport: trains, boats, cars, planes, horses, donkeys, and camels.

With pages brimming with archival travel posters, guides, tickets, leaflets, brochures, menus, and luggage stickers, the book evokes all the romance, elegance, not to mention the sheer sense of novelty, that enthralled these golden-age passengers. Through decadent new cities, or wild, rugged terrains, this is your passport to a long-lost epoch of adventure and wide-eyed wonder at the world.

Read more

Books: ‘The Carlyle’ – The History Of The Iconic New York City Hotel (SEP 2021)

If there is one landmark that encapsulates the spirit of New York City, with all its glamour, charm and singularity, it is The Carlyle Hotel. An Upper East Side institution since it opened in 1930, The Carlyle has become synonymous with luxury, status and sophistication. Its suites have housed presidents and princesses, dukes and duchesses, and Hollywood’s most honored stars.

Commemorating the hotel’s ninetieth anniversary and featuring the recent renovation by the esteemed designer Tony Chi, this all-new edition of The Carlyle explores the hotel’s storied history and its status as an enduring icon. With exclusive interviews with celebrity patrons and never-before-seen photographs from the earliest archives up to today’s most exclusive parties, this stunning volume is an homage to the rich past and vibrant present of this grand, world-famous hotel.

James Reginato, Writer-at-Large for Vanity Fair and a contributor to Sotheby’s Magazine, is the author of Great Houses, Modern Aristocrats. A leading journalist, he was formerly W Magazine’s Features Director.

Regarded as one of the preeminent rock musicians of our time, Lenny Kravitz has transcended genre, style, race and class over the course of a forty-year musical career. Reveling in the soul, rock and funk influences the 1960s and 1970s, the writer, producer and multi-instrumentalist has won four consecutive Grammy® Awards. His eleven studio albums have sold forty million worldwide and his creative firm Kravitz Design Inc. touts an impressive portfolio of ventures, including hotel properties and high-end brands like Rolex, Leica and Dom Pérignon. He’s the author of Flash, which showcases rock photography and his memoir, Let Love Rule, landed him on The New York Times Best Seller List.

Read more

Photography: ‘Mountain Roads’ By Stephan Bogner & Jan Baedeker (2021)

The new book «Mountain Roads» by photographer Stefan Bogner and author Jan Baedeker is a 496-page tribute to the world’s most beautiful hairpins, serpentines, and alpine roads.

The mountain was there yesterday. And it’ll be there tomorrow. It has no interest in us. Its sense of time is geological, we’re little more than a moth that has landed on its broad flanks a moment ago: the prehistoric hunters, the Roman legions, the pilgrims and medieval traders, the road builders with their dynamite, the royal carriages, the puffing steam trains, the freezing soldiers with their rifles, the first motorists wrapped in clouds of dust and the echo of their engines, the cyclists and their iron thighs and tight trousers, the honking postal coaches, motor-homes and buses, the roaring racing machines – the mountain couldn’t care less. Mule tracks, military thoroughfares, trade routes, panoramic roads – merely fleeting shadows on its elephant skin. When a wave of rock piles up and breaks in the slowest of all slow motion for a billion years – what then is a decade, a century, a millennium? 

Read morehttps://www.classicdriver.com/en/article/travel/ultimate-book-about-mountain-roads-big-and-heavy-a-rock

Architecture: ‘Building Bound to the Ground’

Dig deep into the origins of building. The ground, now often used as a passive foundation for going higher, is rife with possibilities. Bjarne Mastenbroek investigates the relationship architecture has, had, and will have, with site and nature. Through the photography of Iwan Baan and more than 500 analytical drawings by SeARCH, Dig it! dissects structures from the past millennia—some well-known, some previously overlooked. This global survey of nearly 1,400 pages, designed by Mevis & Van Deursen, brings architecture back in harmony with the Earth’s surface. Discover the book: https://www.taschen.com/04697yt

Travel & Photography: “Wanderlust Alps” (2021)

Stretching from France all the way down to Slovenia, Europe’s most majestic mountain range encompasses eight countries. Wanderlust Alps charts the region’s most treasured routes and guides the reader every step of the way. Aimed at those with an appetite for adventure, this book offers a rich mix of treks for hikers who wish to brave the elements.

Through enlightening maps, first-hand tips, and breathtaking photography, Wanderlust Alps illustrates why the range’s craggy peaks and verdant plains make it an outdoor playground in any season. Expect dazzling content to inspire hikers of any experience and skill level, stunning landscape photography, and helpful hints and information on how best to enjoy more than 50 epic trails.

Alex Roddie is an active backpacker, mountaineer, and climber with over 15 years of outdoor experience. Based in England, he works as an editor, writer, and photographer for outdoor-related print publications and online media. Wanderlust Europe was released by gestalten in 2020.

Read more