Image Books

This work is the long awaited third installment in the series on the Japanese prints in the Art Institute of Chicago, the first 2 of which were limited to 500 and 1000 copies each and are now quite rare. This, more available, volume is a masterpiece and much worth the price--both cheaper and more informed than the earlier volumes. The Actor's Image was literally years in the making, and represents a vast amount of research and a lifetime of study by Timothy Clark, a true expert on Japanese prints. Don't let the price stop you--this work is worth a dozen of the common books on ukiyo-e.

Kabuki, the dance drama created by the Japanese in the 1600s has long fascinated the western world. Taking many movements and gestures from an earlier dramatic form patronized primarily by the nobility, the No plays, Kabuki is livelier, easier to understand, and marked by stylistically performed singing and dancing.

Today, Ukiyo-e (pictures of the floating or passing world) paintings and prints, which are perceptive depictions of life in the entertainment and pleasure quarters of Japan in the 18th and 19th centuries are highly prized.

Also to be highly prized is The Actor's Image, a stunningly beautiful volume presenting a collection of woodblock prints of Kabuki actor portraits and theater scenes culled from the Art Institute of Chicago's excellent Buckingham Collection of Japanese Prints.

The full-color prints are visually arresting and enchanting, capturing richly costumed Kabuki actors often carefully posed to reveal the majestic materials they are wearing. The strong textile patterns and black outlines of the figures typify the style frequently used by these print makers.

As if the magnificent illustrations were not feast enough, Donald Jenkins' cogent essay defines printmaking and offers biographical notes re the lives of the Katsukawa school of print makers. The essay by Timothy Clark brings Kabuki theater to vivid life.

These lavish prints are emotional as well as decorative. The Actor's Image is a splendid volume in every way.

- Gail Cooke

Few books can match the quality of this production. The paper is first rate, and the color reproduction is as close to perfect as possible. There are no muddy images or inaccurate colors in this book.

The commentary is scholarly, as you would expect in a book from the Art Institute of Chicago. Other books, such as "100 Views of Edo" have more engaging and accessible descriptions. However, the lack of immediate appeal is more than made up for by the clarity, consistency and scholarship inherent in this entire book.

The prints reproduced in the book are especially rare, and the book is even more attractive because it contains so many of these rare prints. The Katsukawa School of print makers worked during a relatively early stage of the wood block era, and many of the prints shown in the book exist nowhere else. To top it all off, most of the prints are in excellent condition.

This is a book to be savored slowly. Page by page, line by line, each image adding to the impact of the last and the next.

It's worth the money.

I read the whole Death of Superman saga when it was originally published in the early 90's. I was completely hook with the storyline. But my favorite always has been Funeral for a Friend aka A World Without Superman. The story begins immediately after Superman's death at the hands of Doomsday in Superman 75. In this arc Superman is obviouly absent.He is only seen in action as flashbacks or part of peoples dreams and/or memories.So the story focus in Superman's supporting cast, mainly Lois Lane, and the Kents specially Pa Kent who cannot accept the fact that his son is gone.The story tells how they deal with their everyday problems without him, and the emotional aspect of the characters that mourns the death of their friend.This is a very touching story that you never will get bored of.

I read the whole Death of Superman saga when it was originally published in the early 90's. I was completely hook with the storyline. But my favorite always has been Funeral for a Friend aka A World Without Superman. The story begins immediately after Superman's death at the hands of Doomsday in Superman 75. In this arc Superman is obviouly absent.He is only seen in action as flashbacks or part of peoples dreams and/or memories.So the story focus in Superman's supporting cast, mainly Lois Lane, and the Kents specially Pa Kent who cannot accept the fact that his son is gone.The story tells how they deal with their everyday problems without him, and the emotional aspect of the characters that mourns the death of their friend.This is a very touching story that you never will get bored of.

I read the whole Death of Superman saga when it was originally published in the early 90's. I was completely hook with the storyline. But my favorite always has been Funeral for a Friend aka A World Without Superman. The story begins immediately after Superman's death at the hands of Doomsday in Superman 75. In this arc Superman is obviouly absent.He is only seen in action as flashbacks or part of peoples dreams and/or memories.So the story focus in Superman's supporting cast, mainly Lois Lane, and the Kents specially Pa Kent who cannot accept the fact that his son is gone.The story tells how they deal with their everyday problems without him, and the emotional aspect of the characters that mourns the death of their friend.This is a very touching story that you never will get bored of.

This little text is so very informative. The author expertly refutes the major arguments prevelant among the conservatives that our children are deficient. I am convinced.

I'm an educator who works with middle school children. This book was an excellent read and provided more understanding for me as I work with children. I highly recommend it to caring educators!!

This book opened my eyes. I am an educator and this happens to our children everyday. I would love to meet the author.

After 36 years of walking with the Lord, this book has shined a light on just how far along I am! (or not). Mumford has always had wonderful teaching and insight (the kind that you always remember and actually changes your life) but I think this is his best.

This book explains the issues, the problems, and most important the cure. In my own personal journey on the Agape Road, I only wish that I had the knowledge, insight and wisdom that this book offers twenty years ago. This is a must read bood for every christian who yearns for a closer and personal relationship with God the Father and His son Jesus Christ.

This book gets to the essence of the gospel. It exposes the dead works and brings the believer into His glorious rest. It sorts through the issues bringing you to what matters the most,
that one thing that rules every other desire.

Dr. Allen Wilson

A wonderful soft back book of posters designed for instant nostalgia. I rather liked its comprehensiveness, mainly featuring US railroads but nicely chapters devoted to Canadian and European posters. Another nice touch is the inclusion of ads, baggage labels and several black and white photos.

Predictably the posters tend to feature the streamline diesels of the thirties and forties (certainly a lot easier for the illustrators) rather than the European style of picturing the destinations. The travelling experience was the selling point rather than getting somewhere quickly and this, by the late forties and fifties, was rather a lost cause as plane travel was slowly becoming commonplace. There is great 1958 photo of the General Motors Aerotrain on page fifty-four making a PR stop in San Diego, possibly the last true streamliner.

Most of the posters shown have a graphic rather than literal style though there is a stunning 1940 Santa Fe brochure cover that has an E8 somewhere west of the Rockies done in a very photo realist style. The last chapter Rails for Victory covers the WW2 years when railroads lost no opportunity in telling everyone they were doing their bit. There are couple of beautiful Dean Cornwell paintings used as calendar art by the Pennsylvania RR in 1943 and 44.

The European chapter has some excellent British posters issued before the railroads were taken over by the state in 1947. If these take your fancy have a look at Railway Posters 1923-1947: From the Collection of the National Railway Museum, York a gorgeous book of over two hundred posters and quite remarkable because of the range of artistic styles that were used just to push train travel.

All Aboard is an easy-on-the-eye quick tour of rail posters. A more detailed look can be found in Travel by Train: The American Railroad Poster, 1870-1950 with plenty of super graphic material.

***FOR AN INSIDE LOOK click 'customer images' under the cover.

This book covers railroad advertising from the early 1900s to the late 50s. All color art and a few B&W pictures showing the real trains that influenced the advertising. It shows examples of railroad advertising from posters, timetables, brochures and luggage tags as well as railroads in the US, Canada and Europe. There is a breif history introducing each chapter and the captions for each picture are descriptive and accurate. At the end of the book, there are a few pages explaining how to collect railroad art, which I found very informative. An easy read and very entertaining. An excellent coffee-table book.

As always, Chronicle Books beautiful graphic series has captured a wonderful look back at riding the rails. Johnson and O'Leary have compiled a romantic collection of railroad commercial art.

"...the photography critic Vicki Goldberg and the art historian Robert Silberman have neatly divided the century into three chronological parts and written 30 brief essays, each focusing on notable aspects, from a photographic point of view, of a particular period. From the authors' vantage point, it certainly seems as though the first two-thirds of the century are when the innovation, energy, passion and commitment are, and the last period is more analytical and self-referential -- rather like life itself. There is a photogoraph for each year of the century, plus others to illustrate chosen themes like war photography or the rise of the news agencies. Goldberg (who also writes about photography for The Times) and Silberman have succeeded in bringing a semblance of order to the past century of photography and have given a lively and informative overview of its many facets."

This has to be my favorite of all the century photo books that came out. The images cover a wide range of subject and intrest, with very few graffic images of wars or violence. It is a wonderful addition to my coffee table!

"american photography: a century of images" By Vicki Goldberg and Robert Silberman 1999 A companion to the major PBS series Publisher: Chronicle Books 232 pages

american photography: a century of images

If you only have one book about photography in your home library, this should be the book. Marilyn Dalrymple, reviewer

This is a truly beautiful, fascinating and informational volume. "American photography: a century of images," traces the history of photography from 1900 to 1999. It is not just the mundane, "cameras were invented--color film made its debut in . . . , or Steichen, Adams Avedon were known for . . . ," however. A blurb from the book's cover notes, "New York Times photography critic Vicki Goldberg and art historian Robert Silberman, senior consultants to the PBS series, show how profoundly photography has helped shape the life of our nation, examining it in the realms of home life, advertising, science, news, propaganda, fashion, and celebrity stardom."

"One of photography's great gifts has always been to make possible many kinds of vicarious experience," says the introduction to an article about National Geographic magazine. Photography brought foreign peoples and foreign places into our homes. On the other hand, "Even our worst faults were put before the world's eyes by our photographers because of the extent of our media industry and the openess of our press," say Goldberg and Silberman. These two examples illustrate the awesome power photography possesses.

The first use of halftone screens and the regular publication of photographs in magazines and newspapers (1897, The New York Tribune); the first American photo magazine (Life); the first horrific photographs of war. The image that showed the stars so clearly that the first catalogue of stellar positions based on photographic measurements appeared in 1885; images that proved scientific theories and made social reform possible. Photographs that showed the world how evil the family of man can be. Images that portray the wonder and beauty of our world. All are illustrated and discussed in this one volume.

Well written, compelling, and beautifully illustrated, this book is well worth the price.

Marilyn Dalrymple

I'm getting my masters in Architecture and this book is a must-have, must-read for anyone designing in the digital age. It's informational and inspiring not only for architects, but anyone interested in using computer technology as a method for design carried through to manufactuing.

We all know that information revolution has totally transformed the society. Architecture is no exception. Relative to industrial revolution's impact on architecture, "what has this recent revolution done to the field?" is the basic inquiry to the book. This book diligently answers to the question. It is extremely informative and provocative regarding digital technologies available for architecture.

As an outcome of a symposium held at U.Penn. in 2002, the book compiles various scholars and practitioners around the world. They grapple with the current technologies available to design and manufacture innovative shapes/forms/spaces that associate with digital aesthetics.

Spearheaded researchers such as Bill Mitchell(MIT), Chris Luebkeman(Arup), Ali Rahim (U.Penn), and Branko Kolarevic (U.Penn, chief editor of the book); and, cutting-edge practitioners such as Jim Glymph (Gehry), Hugh Whitehead (Foster & Partners), Bernhard Franken (Franken Architekten), etc.; both groups provide theoretical framework and actual applications.

It's interesting to point out that the authors deliberately associated digital architecture with smooth forms. Double curvatures deform structure/ skin/ space of the building. The new modes of design and production enables that complex geometries to be part of building industry.

As a reader, the most challenging claim of the book is that the authors
assert (some explicitly and some implicitly) on the new role of an architect. They believe that this new mode of production will revolutionize the client-architect-contractor relationship. Because architects will be the (single) dominant source of information on the three dimensionally morphed shape, manufacturers and fabricators would rely heavy on architects. The authors predict architect would regain absolute power of medieval master builders.

This book provides a great overview of the developing technolgies in digital design and fabrication. I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in a comprehensive study in the current trends in digital architecture. A series of 20+ articles by designers working in this area of architecture, this book updates the conversation to what is happening today and what is being projected in the future. Great resource!

Book is a great history of the Lake Ariel area. Nice photos and it would make a great Father's Day or Grandparent's Day gift for someone who grew up in the Lake Ariel area. That said, I took my copy (purchased from Amazon.com) to a book signing event held in Salem Township's new Library and Mr. Reed (author) would not sign it. His reason was because it came from Amazon, not a local seller (hint hint Amazon). Well, the cost at Amazon was about 1/2 of what they sell it for locally. I would still recommend you buy the book online, his signature is not worth the difference!

This book is about the small town where I grew up! It was the next best thing to Mayberry that you could find! Great photo's and info - it was a true walk down memory lane! Thank you to the author for taking the time to do such an awesome job on a small town with a lot of history!

This is a great book. I have lived in this area all my life and I learned so much from this book I did not know. Cudos to Kurt Reed and his team for writing this very informative book.

This is an excellent book for those interested in photographic work that goes beyond the straight print. It essentially represents a collection of work by a dozen or so artists who use photography as a starting point in the creation of their art. Their is some information on the processes the artisits employ but it is by no means a technical manual. If you are looking for inspiration this is an excellent place to start.

The quality of the reproductions are excellent as is the text which ecompanies each artist's portfolio.

I am a painter. I have recently started making art using the computer.The computer is simply just another tool. I stumbled upon this book and found it to be very inspiring. The artists use a variety of photographic, digital and mixed media techniques to achieve a work of art that is unique and beyond the process. There are excellant representations of the works and some very good explanations of the process for achieving the final results. I reccomend this book to mixed media artists, painters, photographers, and digital artists.

This is a gorgeous coffee table book. I am mostly a rubber stamper and paper artist, and though I don't do much photography per se, I still love this book. It features a lot of collage art and ideas I know I can incorporate into my own designs.

The book is broken into four sections including transformed, constructed, extended and digital images. Each section features the work of 4 or 5 different artists. Each artist was interviewed, explaining their techniques and thoughts on their artwork. Four different full-page examples of each artist's work follows, with captions giving information on title, size and techniques used. There is also a gallery featuring examples of seven other artists' work.

Because I like to work with computer graphics I especially enjoyed the digital section. The still life with people in a soap bubble by Olivia Parker is really awesome. I love John Reuter's tile effect Polaroid transfers with nudes of as well. The winged pig of Maggie Taylor is another favorite.

A handy glossary and index are included as well as a directory of artists with addresses. With such a variety of techniques and approaches to art this book is truly inspirational.

The Art of Identity deals with the importance of the corporate identity. Extremely well-written and researched. Rowden's book is sure to lead to powerful discussions on his ideas, especially 'firmwords,' a fascinating concept. Of course, a successful corporate identity is quite relevant nowadays, even critical to an organization's success, both on Main Street and Wall Street. The importance of identity is also emphasized in Guerilla PR: Wired, which relies on an examination of how to create and manage an image using the Internet and other technological methods.

Rowden has produced a major work relating to Corporate Identity; I believe his ideas will prove the foundation for a new direction in the business domain.

His concept of Firmwords will, I am sure, become an established mechanism through which identity can be constructed, remodeled or improved.

This deeply thought provoking book will become a classic for all who enter the business arena not just those involved in the marketing field.

Few books live up to their dust jacket. This one does. The publishers at Gower describe it as "Deeply thought-provoking, offering a profound insight into the creation, management and measurement of identity-and into why the right idnetity can transform your organisation". Though I steal their words this is a fair description.

I especially like the 'firm word' principal, I used this myself to great affect.