5 comments about Children of a Vanished World (S. Mark Taper Foundation Book in Jewish Studies).

1. The emotion that produces Vishniac's work,in the Eastern Europe Jewish comunnities a few years before the II World War is hard to put in words, because it's really a world that vanished not because of progress but because someone, with hatred, erased it from earth.
   I feel grateful to Vishniac cause he allows us not to forget.



2. I am an amateur photographer. 90% of good photography is in finding the right subject. These photos are stirring.



3. This is a powerful book. In its pages we find starkly beautiful black and white photographs of children laughing, crying, playing, studying, working, in the course of their daily life... unaware of the horrific nightmare that will overtake them soon and destroy their world.

   The children's eyes look at you with all the innocent curiousity and wonder of eternal, universal childhood. You look again and apprehension grips you: in a few short years after being photographed, the future of many of these children will be brutally terminated in an unmarked mass grave or a crematorium. The poignancy of this harsh reality is driven home when you read editor Mara Vishniac Kohn's dramatic description of her father's desperate, futile efforts to use his photographs as a means of arousing the conscience of the world and inspiring action to save these children and their families. We learn that Roman Vishniac sent these photos to the White House, only to recieve a perfunctory note thanking him for "the excellent pictures you sent the President."

   I must express my heartfelt compliments and appreciation to the editors, Mara Vishniac Kohn and Miriam Hartman Flacks, for the way in which they have presented these precious images-- accompanying them with the lyrics of appropriate Yiddish children's songs, in the original Yiddish and English transliteration and translation, rather than the standard dry caption text. I am especially grateful to the editors for including the music and annotation for these wonderful songs.

   This book belongs in every home and library.




4. This book moved me a great deal. The black and white images convey such innocence in the children. The simplicity of the beautifully produced photographs juxtaposed with children's songs and rhymes (in Hebrew, Yiddish, and English) gives the impression of viewing the images in a gallery. The photographs, the narrative, and the publication itself are of very fine quality. And the message is unforgettable.



5. In a haunting collection of black-and-white photographs, Roman Vishniac records the lives of Jewish children in Eastern Europe in the early part of the century, before the start of the Holocaust. The text is a series of children's songs (in Hebrew with English translation), which are touching and show how much children are alike whether they're from one side of the world or another. But the shadow of the Holocaust, while never shown, shades readers' appreciation of the images. This is a book I will not soon forget.

1 comments about Cool Hotels: India, Maldives, Sri Lanka.

1. Students of architecture, hotel and commercial building design, and travel will all find much to attract in Cool Hotels: India, Maldives, Sri Lanka: it features the best hotels of the region, from rustic to big city, and discusses craftsmanship, artistic d‚cor, and landscaping qualities which make each hotel exceptional. The meat of Cool Hotels lies in its full-page color photos of both interior and exteriors of featured hotels.

2 comments about Washington, D.C.: A Pictorial Souvenir.

1. 
   Nice book of this type depicting Washington DC. This one is better than most because the pictures are large and there's some unique perspectives. The only downside is there are so many books of this type it's hard to tell them apart. I've seen other works by this pair and they always do a nice job displaying their subject.



2. I have visited Washington, D.C. several times, by myself and with my family. This book has the best photographic coverage of Washington in one cover that I have seen. The captions for the photographs are accurate and helpful. If you go on the Washington by Dark bus tours, this book is better than the photos most of us take for the monuments. You can save your film for pictures of your friends or family at the sites during the day. Additionally, the preface history of Washington is interesting and concise. I heartily recommend this photo essay to any Washington, D.C. visitor.

1 comments about Visual Culture: The Reader (Published in association with The Open University).

1. this selection of essays offer a wide understanding of all the arenas in which visual analysis can take place. it has an introduction about what is visual culture and essays from academics such as j. clifford, m. de certeau, g. pollock, etc. it is a review on the history of visuality and the implications of visual culture in the arenas of the representation of race, class, gender, sexual orientation, etc. You wont regret buying this book if you are interested in the study of visual culture.

No comments about A Living Treasure: Seasonal Photographs of Arlington National Cemetery.

2 comments about Hitting the Road: The Art of the American Road Map.

1. A treasured trip down memory lane when the country was crossed with roads instead of major freeways and the towns didn't all look alike! The writing is excellent and the road maps used to illustratate the text remind us of better days in auto travel and also in advertising.



2. I collect UK Ordnance Survey maps and this book tempts me to collect some US roads maps. The quality of the pictures is wonderfull and the commentary is excellent. If you like this you should like "Map Cover Art" by John Paddy Brown about OS map covers. Now out of print apparently but amazon will try and look for you . Some of the covers from the 20's are very similar to those in the UK.

3 comments about Jean Davidson's Harley-Davidson Family Album.

1. But mine was very connected to motorcycles. I want to thank the authors of this book for having shared their very personal family information and pictures. This book and especially these families have had a profound effect on our ever shrinking planet and it's peoples. If you read for fun you will find great pleasure in this book and "THE SECOND COMING OF AGE" by: Vedrine; a must for every Harley Davidson enthusiast.



2. Jean Davidson's Harley-Davidson Family Album is a great gift for anyone who wants to know more about Harley-Davidsons. While most books about these wonderful motorcycles focus on the bikes and their impact on the culture, the Family Album describes the effect of the motorcycle on the founders and their families . . . and vice versa. It's a dimension of Harley-Davidson that I knew nothing about . . . and found to be fascinating.

   Jean Davidson is the granddaughter of Walter Davidson, the first president of the company, and her father was Gordon Davidson, a company vice president. She is a former dealer. She teams up with Sara Ann Harley-O'Hearn to add comments about both families. About half of the photographs were new to me, and the captions were priceless.

   The book opens with family trees of Davidsons and Harleys who are in the book so you can keep track of who's who.

   Then the book turns to how the families emigrated from Europe to Wisconsin in the late 1800s. Within five pages of photographs, you begin to see motorcycle images. The first classic is of Arthur Davidson with a friend holding up the fish they caught while sitting on a motorcycle and in a sidecar. The original idea behind the motorcycle was to help make it easier to go fishing. Go figure!

   The text is also interesting . . . including an explanation of why the company is called Harley-Davidson rather than Davidson-Harley.

   The family connections are interesting. The model called "Silent Grey Fellow" in 1914 employed the nickname for William Sylvester Harley. There's also a nice page on the first motorcycle and what happened to it through 1912.

   It wasn't all easy. In 1904 a household maid raided the company's cash jar, and left the company broke. The Davidson brothers' uncle, James McLay, came to the rescue. His photograph is included.

   Interspaced with the family materials are examples of motorcycles, advertisements and motion picture stills featuring motorcycles.

   One of my favorite family photographs shows the chauffeur who was used to drive the founder's wives around in a sidecar. Even though the family was prospering, they preferred their bikes!

   There are also photographs of the male founders working on bikes and even testing them.

   The book also describes the company's attitude toward having women work at the company (single women only in the early days).

   Just after I finished this book, I happened to see an advertisement for S.C. Johnson where the fourth generation and fifth generation members talked about how the company is the family and vice versa. I couldn't help but think that this observation is equally true of Harley-Davidson after enjoying this fine album.

   Photography fans should be warned, however, that like most family albums, these images are often not professional grade. They are often just like the snaps that your grandparents and parents took when they were young. To me, that aspect just added to the charm of the book.

   I was encouraged to take out our family album after looking at this one. I hope you will do the same.




3. This is a wonderful scrapbook of the history of the Harley
   Davidson Company on its 100th birthday. It is written by the
   grand daughter of Walter Davidson.There are a series of action
   pictures depicting the family in the early 1900s including
   a 1918 outing. The book explains the dynamics of testing
   each motorcycle directly from the assembly line. This rendition
   would make a perfect gift for a motorcycle enthusiast.

No comments about Glass Houses.

3 comments about The American Townhouse.

1. The Townhouse is a classic American urban building style. This volume follows the history of the American Townhouse from its Colonial roots on the Eastern Seaboard to the style's highpoint in the Row Houses and Brownstones of the late Nineteenth Century. Featured in this book are twenty five beautifully photographed homes. The chapters chronicle the styles evolution from the Colonial and Federal periods to the Greek Revival, Italianate, Brownstone and Queen Anne periods.
   
   For those interested in the history of the style, the first two chapters do an excellent job of placing the Townhouse in its proper historical context. However, the heart of the book are the photographs of the twenty five Townhouses. Most of these homes have been restored and are now museums. Rader Kurazj is a skilled architectural photographer and there are many wonderful photographs of both building facades and interiors. This book is recommended for all those interested in learning more about an important American architectural style.



2. super photos great for design ideas and research... also helpful in historic renovation projects...



3. This is a very well put together book, the text is well researched and the images are crisp. It's very interesting to see all the different architectural styles. These houses are all furnished beautifully and the photographs really capture the details and craftmanship of these amazing townhouses. When you visit Boston or New York you can't help but be enchanted at the rows and rows of these houses, whether it's New York's Upper East Side or Greenwich Village or Boston's Beacon Hill. The houses in this book are from all over the country, from Savannah to San Francisco and each one is at least as interesting as the last. If you have any interest in townhouses or beautiful books in general, then I believe you will enjoy this book.

5 comments about Large Format Nature Photography.

1. 
   This is by far the most useful book of advice on taking LF pictures, showing how to handle many important aspects of the craft. The discussions are all very enlightening: on equipment (from cameras to tripods to filters), technique, problems and their solutions, advantages of the format, and the philosophy of LF photography. The important points are illustrated with wonderful pictures of the processes and with the resulting photos. The author uses pairs of similar pictures to demonstrate the effects of variations in settings and approach.
   
   It is also a spellbinding book of nature photographs. Each one is a like little jewel.
   
   I believe some of reviewers on this site who express disappointment must have been looking for a primer or handbook, which this is not. Anyone thinking of trying LF or already immersed in it, no matter how successfully, should own this book and study it closely. It's all pleasure.



2. This book is incredile beyond belief! If you are a photographer, then this is the book for you. The pictures are fabulous and the text quite readable. No matter what format you prefer, this book should definitrly be readily available to you. All-in-all, an excellent book!



3. This is a good book with some good tips on using a Large Format camera for nature shots. I also bought the book Using The View Camera by Steve Simmons. I notice in this book that he recommends glass filters where as Simmon's suggests gelatin ones. I wouldn't suggest this book as your first large format book because he doesn't tell you how to use one, you should already know by the time you read this. If you are interested in LF or thinking of getting one, this is one of those books you can read rather than watching that stupid television. It will inspire you to get out there and use your camera.



4. If you're looking for an instruction book on LF Photography, then this is NOT the book.
   
   Jack Dykinga's highly acclaimed talent as a photographer does not translate into this book. As other reviewers have commented, the book falls far short on technical merit.



5. This book is light on technical information unless you happen to use the exact same equipment as the author. This is primarily a personal journal and not really an instructional volume. Pictures are OK.