3 comments about Cowboy Boots.

1. This book is so fun! My passion for cowboy boots started several years ago, but it hasn't been till recently that I started paying for the best. This book is better than bad sex for sure! The craftsmanship that goes into some of those books is amazing. Every page is like a new piece of tantalizing candy. I love it so much that I show it off at my restaurant in Seattle for all to enjoy!



2. Cowboy Boots picks up where Tyler & Jim's "Art of the Boot" leaves off. This book has more than 51 known makers, and nearly 400 pairs of cowboy boots... all photographed in crisp detail by Jim Arndt. Wow.
   
   Here are just a couple of the very speical pairs:
   
   Page 143. "The Mexican" is a remarkable pair of boots made by the El Paso company called Tres Outlaws. Your eye is naturally drawn to the 22 rare Mexcian coins inlayed across the pair...but what is more astounding is to discover that the tooling pattern on this "matching pair" each completely different on the right and left boot. The difference is difficult to detect because the design is so well balanced. An amazing tribute to the rich history and culture of Mexico.
   
   Page 25. "Ray Jones Boots 1960-1970s with Eagle Inlay." Ray Jones was famous for the "plain" stitched boots he made for working cowboys. These boots show us another side of this maker's skill.
   
   This book's small size lends itself to endless page flipping. After 3 years, I'm still inspired by the boots I find inside.



3. TYLER AND I THINK THAT THIS IS ONE 'KICKIN' BOOK !!!
   A GREAT COMPANION TO OUR OTHER BOOKS, 'THE COWBOY BOOT BOOK', ART OF THE BOOT', AND 'ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF WESTERN WEAR'. ENJOY!
   TYLER AND JIM

1 comments about Create Your Own Digital Movies (Create Your Own).

1. This is a great straightforward read, with lots of practical tips and "how to's" AND COLOR PHOTOS to take a novice or mildly experienced video auteur into a range of competence and joy for themselves AND (very importantly) their audience. Chapters logically thought out: special events (e.g., child in a school play), travelogue, etc. Highly recommend.

5 comments about Old Friends: Great Dogs on the Good Life.

1. I purchased this book for my husband after the loss of his/our dog that he had adopted 15 years ago. The book is a beautiful look at why older dogs are the best and hardest to lose. I designed a page identical to those in the book with a picture of our dog and a list of a few of the items that made her life so great. It is a great book for dog lovers.



2. This is a wonderful book for anyone who loves dogs, especially people who understand the true beauty of older dogs. Asher's photographs are emotion provoking as they seem to capture the essence of the dogs' personalities. I bought this book as a present for someone and one for myself. I am going to buy at least 2 more as gifts. :)



3. good pictures of the dogs; I liked the captions for the pictures. another good book for dog lovers as our doggies get older.



4. If you are a dog person, you'll love this book. The pictures and short "sayings" from the dogs match perfectly. I've given this as a gift to friends who love dogs, and they have all loved it.



5. Mark Asher has captured, in a series of haunting photographs, the rare beauty and vast wisdom that old dogs give to those of us fortunate enough to love them unconditionally. If you have ever loved an old dog, this book is for you. Nothing here but fabulous pictures of old dogs and the secrets of their longevity expressed in brief but memorable phrases. This book makes a beautiful gift for the dog lover in your life.

3 comments about The Book of Photography: The History, the Technique, the Art, the Future.

1. This book is a wonderful resource for anyone who is interested in photography. I learned how to tave a variety of photographs and the history of photography.



2. This book is an excellent history of photography. It is not a book of "how-to". If you are looking for a concise and readable history, this is a good start.



3. What could be better than a book from the National Geographic Society that shows photos and how to take them? Great for a photography buff, or a magazine fan.

5 comments about Central Park, An American Masterpiece: A Comprehensive History of the Nation's First Urban Park.

1. Did you know that the elm lined mall leading to the Bethesda fountain and the view of the ramble are actually based on the layout of a church? Or that all of the lakes in Central Park are manmade. This and many other very interesting facts are interspersed with lovingly taken photographs of the park which were taken by the author of the book as well. Miller starts decribing how the park came to be and the leading ideas and ideals that lead to its creation by Olmsted and Vaux. She proceeds to describe systematically the various sections of the park providing historical information as well. She delves into the some of the controversies and compromises that Olmsted and Vaux encountered in the creation of one of the finest examples of 19th Century art but it is not a comprehensive history of the park. There is a 2 page map of the park at the of the book with a legend identifying each of the features discussed in the book. If you are first time visitor to the city wishing to explore the park in detail or a life long New Yorker this book will delight and surprise you.



2. As an avid fan of Central Park who has been exploring it and studying the books on it for decades, I was amazed at what there was still to learn about it from Miller's book. For example, other historians allude to a connection between Central Park's design and the Hudson River School of landscape art: Miller provides actual sources of the designer's inspiration and shows the results explicitly in the photos. And all in a way that is not at all "bookish" but instead makes you want to go right in and see for yourself the scenes she shows so well in the book's illustrations. The beautiful photos and fascinating stories and the well chosen historical prints all work together in such a compelling and entertaining way that one might never realize one is being educated by a superb textbook in the field of art.
   With her emphasis on the past of the park, and its present restored beauty, it is understandable that the author does not use very much of the book's valuable space on the remaining present-day problems, but she might at least have alluded to the incongruity of the city's insistence on using this artistic matepiece as a through route for motor traffic during the majority of daylight weekday hours. In effect, the city's Dept. of Traffic is providing a refuge from the chaos of the surrounding streets during rush hours - but for the cars, not for the people. If you want to appreciate the park shown in this book, go during the times when the traffic noise does not drown out the wind in the trees, the birdsong, and the happy voices of children!



3. Central Park is breath taking and this book does a fine job of giving the reader a feel for what makes this 850 acre masterpiece so special. The book is quite thorough and does an commendable job of disecting various sections of the park. The color photos are vivid and well thought out and the text is highly informative. The author has a real love for the park and it comes out in her writing. If you have never visited Central Park or have visited and fell in love with it like so many others, you will love this book. This oasis really is the heart of New York City and to understand New York you have to understand the parks history and its vast importantance to the city. Central Parks importance to New York and New Yorkers cannot be overstated, I can't imagine the city without it.



4. Commemorating the 150th anniversary of Central Park, photographer and historian Sara Cedar Miller celebrates the aesthetic, cultural and historic significance of America's first public park with the book "Central Park, An American Masterpiece." This is the park's definitive illustrated history, and offers some of the most gorgeous photographs I have seen on the subject - a difficult task given the number of pictures that have been drawn, painted and photographed of the Manhattan landmark. The book includes over 200 color illustrations, original plans and drawings alongside modern photos, giving the viewer/reader an historical perspective.

   Accompanying Ms. Miller's work, portraying the park throughout the seasons, is a well written text which highlights the conception and creation of the park and its art and architecture. This is a big, beautiful picture book that would make a wonderful addition to any home or library. It's a wonderful gift idea. I know as I have given it numerous times.

   Ms. Miller is the parks official historian and photographer and has been since the mid-1980s.
   JANA




5. Sara Miller has put together an outstanding book: a book as vast and detailed as the Great Park itself. For those not familiar with the park and its history, this is an invaluable introduction to the political, demographical, economic and, especially, aesthetic thinking that went into the creation of 800 acres of gorgeous park space in the middle of Manhattan. For those seasoned veterans of NYC history, this is a welcome reminder of the enormous vision and efforts of Calvert Vaux and Fredrick Law Olmsted, as they conceived the park.

   Nota Bene: A lot of books have gorgeous photos but the print job is miserable ... Others have high-qualtity prints but the photos aren't that interesting ... This book has glorious prints and an expert print job. Pick up this book.

   Rocco Dormarunno, author of The Five Points and The Five Points Concluded

1 comments about Alpha Males.

1. Henning von Berg's ALPHA MALES is certainly far and away the best book of male nude photography of the year and the most engaging collection by a single artist since Paul Freeman's beautiful BONDI CLASSIC. This outstanding retrospective published by Bruno Gmunder, consisting of over a hundred photographs in color, black and white and sepia, is divided into three sections: "Germany", "North America" and "Round The World." Dr. Boris von Brauchitsch and David Leddick, himself the editor of several similar volumes of photography, have written brief introductions to the photographs. The photographer also includes an occasional quotation to accompany the images from Shakespeare as well as Quentin Crisp and Gore Vidal, whom he calls his "admired role models," along with Martin Luther King, Sir Ian McKellen and John Waters, for their "outspoken fight for equal rights, liberation and freedom," a strange accolade, however, for Mr. Crisp who was mostly famous for being Quentin Crisp and living so long.
   
   While a few of these photographs are predictable-- "Twins," for example of a young god leaning against a mirror-- von Berg creates images over and over of the male animal in all his glory, often erect, without repeating himself, no small accomplishment. Furthermore, he is inclusive in his choice of models. Caucasians, blacks, Asians and Latinos, the musclebound, those sans muscles, the older (the model Leo Jackson) as well as the younger, the tattooed, the occasional cross-dresser, all get to do their thing before the photographer's lens.
   
   There seems to be no end to either von Berg's creativity or humor. Some of his most effective shots include several naked men together, often doing risque things ("Domination IX" and "Domination I", "Intermezzo III" and "Intermezzo IV." Also "Exercising" and "Training," both photographs that are beautifully naturally lit from the windows, should you happen to notice.) Many of the images from North America are shot in the rugged desert of California far away from the madding crowd of censors. Some of these shots are scary-- for instance, in the photograph entitled "Hanging" the model is hanging just by his fingers from a ledge of a high buiding. Also "Cliff Dancer" in which the model clad only in a tutu appears to be stepping off a high mountain ridge. "The Milk Man" is shot just after having poured milk down the front of his body. Obviously von Berg is playing with words in his shot of the blond seated before a Hardman grand piano.
   
   Some of my favorite photographs: "Brandenburg Gate" and "Stairway" from the Berlin series; "The Bat" in which the model, wearing a bat mask, is crouching on a high cliff; "Russian-Brazilian Hunk," aptly named and exquisitely lit; the last photograph in the book, "Sampson's Hair," albeit fake dreds; "Meditation IV," a brilliant juxtaposition of a naked man inside a beautiful church; and finally "Cook," of a thin young man wearing only women's platform shoes in a pose that Helmut Newton, one of the photographers von Berg lists as among his idols, would have approved of, accompanied by a quotation from the acerbic Mr. Crisp: "For flavor, instant sex will never supercede the stuff you have to peel and cook." The most amazing picture in the collection has to be "Antenna." When you see it, you'll understand why. (The pages in ALPHA MALES are not numbered so it is difficult to refer easily to the photographs.) The photographer does name his models, however, and gives the dates and locations of each shot. Most of the models are included more than once as well.
   
   This book is one you will come back to again and again and that will bring you much pleasure.

3 comments about Technique of Film Editing, Second Edition.

1. Bible of Film Editing
   from an editor and editing professor-
   editors must have it- simple as that-- would be wise for other filmmakers to read too



2. I found an old copy in a library and searched this out. I bought the hardcover one on amazon cheaply. It has been revised for so long you may as well buy the old. it's not just about editing and goes through how to sequence shots for action (a chase) etc, goes through some citizen kane shots. Has quite a few pictures of sequences and other stuff. I highly recommend it. It's a massive book.



3. First you have to find it. Incidentally, I am sure it is not extremely difficult to find, for I happen to have found it accidentally in a film book store in Hollywood. Needless to say this book provides any potential film maker with an exciting view of the craft, turning mechanics into art. It is written in a clear style and in an almost profound way it will change the way you understand cinema and editing. Reisz and Millar will teach you how to turn the art of film into film art.

No comments about Araki Gold.

1 comments about New York Vertigo.

1. This book, which comes in a case with a magnetic closure, is perfect for fans of the urban environment and especially for New Yorkers. There are only a couple nature shots, with the focus on the reflective properties of our glass boxes, the juxtaposition of art or nature or squalor with these behemoth skyscrapers and the ornamentation of the buildings themselves. The photographs span the past decade and there are a couple photographs of the intact World Trade Center. The final page contains 3 photographs taken on Sept. 11, 2001 (Setboun was in Lower Manhattan that morning). I appreciated the focus being on intact, vibrant New York, rather than the tragedy we see over and over again.

No comments about Paul Fusco: RFK.