Art Architecture Photography Books

This compilation presents an extensive photographic record of the immediate aftermath of the bombing of Nagasaki with accompanying text. Published on the 50th anniversary of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, it shows the horrendous aftermath of the bombing through reprints of digitally restored negatives from pictures taken just a few days after the critical juncture in history. The photos are accompanied by bilingual text in Japanese and English, including an interview with the photographer, a work of fiction, and extensive biographical and chronological materials. The graphic contents may not be suitable for certain readers.

-From the Alsos Digital Library for Nuclear Issues

Several years ago I bought a reprint of Dr. Morse book and it has become not only a treasured Clasic but a Bible of information. Although there are no pictures, none are needed with Dr. Morse drawings and detail descriptions.
E L Smith

I purchased this book simply to get a quick overview of Japanese domestic architecture. The price is always right with Dover books so I just ordered it without any research. What a pleasant surprise to find myself reading a definitive work on the subject a few days later. The text is thoughtfully written and the illustrations skillfully done. As with any well written and illustrated book, color pictures are not overly missed. As a result of this book I find myself much more interested in Japanese architecture than I ever intended to be and heartily recommend it to anyone with an interest in home or interior design.

"Japanese Homes and Their Surroundings" is a great book. If you've any interest in traditional Japanese architecture, get this book. Edward Morse was an American who went to Japan in 1877 to study brachiopods. He ended up recording a vanishing way of life instead. He tells you how Japanese homes were built and why they were built that way. Not much escapes his eye. In serviceable prose and clear drawings, he tells us about carpenters and their tools, houses, furnishings, privies, fences and gateways, water supplies and gardens. Most of it he compares favorably to American and European counterparts.

Best of all, it's a Dover book and cheap.

I bought this book about 3 years ago from Amazon. So you'd think that it would be old hat by now. Yet I find myself picking it up at least once every few months to either refer to it for a construction detail or just to look for something new. What a wonderful resource for traditional Japanese design this book is.

Trained as a Zoologist, Morse put his scientific powers of observation and systematic description to work during the 1880's in producing the sketches and text that describes a world of everyday Japanese design right before it was swamped with Western influence and largely disappeared. There are plenty of books that can show you pictures of ancient Japanese temples and teahouses, but what about the method of constructing the roof of an ordinary 19th century Tokyo home? This was stuff that few people thought was worth recording for posterity. Which is why Morse's book is so unique and valuable to us.

Anyone with more than a passing interest in the way that things are built or designed would do well to put this book on their shelf. Interior decorators, architects, DIY types (such as myself), finish carpenters, contractors and furniture makers should all have a tattered, dog-eared copy of 'Japanese Homes and Their Surroundings' within easy reach. It is a constant source of inspiration.

I picked up the Dover paperback edition at a library book sale and was charmed by the author's detailed drawings as much as the description of domestic life in 19th century Japan. Morse originally published this in 1885, barely 30 years after Perry's expedition, and traveled around Japan documenting as many houses and styles as possible (including those of the Aino culture). There are no photographs, but the intricate line drawings and intimate descriptions of functional households -- kitchens and cooking utensils, washing areas, sleeping quarters -- are minutely detailed and thoroughly described in the text. Not just a book for those interested in architecture but history as well.

A nice book, however. the THUMBNAILS on the top of the book in each page is cut off prematurely. So you end up seeing people's head chopped off, instead of showing the thumbnail photos completely.

There's nothing like a photograph to cut to the heart of things.

In "California 24/7," created by RICK SMOLANd and DAVID ELLIOT COHEN (DK Publishing, $24.95), the heart of California is captured in 734 images, all taken during the single week of May 12-18, 2003, by an army of professional and amateur photographers.

Santa Cruz County is well-represented. There's a de rigeur spread of the Boardwalk. A BMX bicyclist caught turning tricks in the air at the Santa Cruz Art, Wine and Jazz Festival. And a shot of Chris Gonzales, Bro Print employee, taken by the Sentinel's own Shmuel Thaler.

There's also a sweet photo of Erma and Tony Dalbesio, both in their 80s, on the front porch of the home they've lived in for 56 years.

But of all the Santa Cruz photographs, the one of flower grower Kathleen Seaver best represents California's "struggle between the dream and the reality" posited by Diana Erwin, the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, in her introduction to the book.

In the double-page spread of Seaver, National Geographic photographer Sisse Brimberg has captured an explosion of white, purple and pink flowers.

She's also captured the focused intensity Seaver brings to her work.

The photo's caption tells her story:

"Kathleen Seaver, 51, raises organic specialty flowers such as these foxglove-excelsior hybrids on her 5-acre Cadillac Mountain Farms. Twenty years ago, Seaver nearly died after gastrointestinal surgery. She prayed to live, promising, "no matter what," to grow flowers as thanks. Despite her husband's passing and the financial hardships of the business, she has stuck to her promise."

Readers can also order copies of "California 24/7" with their own photographs on the cover. For more information, go to www.america24-7.com.

The Los Angeles story has many parts, some better known than others. Writers have carefully detailed the city's social and environmental challenges, and Hollywood has never lacked for attention. But this book tells a fresher story about a relatively small but energetic group of Los Angeles painters, architects, and photographers whose early 20th-century modernism retains an extraordinary vitality. With its copious photos and illustrations (many in color), this book documents the lives and work of that scene's major figures (Edward Weston, Will Connell, Richard Neutra, Rudolph Schindler, etc.) along with dozens of others who made significant contributions to the modernist project. USC historian William Deverell provides a trenchant introduction. Highly recommended.

I waited with great expectation for "Great Moments in Architecture" to arrive, hoping it would be in the style of the other highly successful books by David MacCaulay on Pyramids, ships, etc. These other books provide something for all ages: detailed drawings on how things work for children and sophisticated studies of engineering and architecture for adults. Unfortunately, Great Moments is a satirical look at great objects of aechitecture. The cover shows L'Arc de Triumph upside down and called Arc de Defeat. The remainder of the book only gets worse. The problem is the work is totally confusing for children who are trying to learn the true nature of the world while being boringly crude for adults. However, I suppose if you would like an expensive and not funny Architectural Far Side, maybe this would provide some brief enjoyment

This is an excellent book for lazy afternoons devoted to daydreaming. Every illustration is a wonderful "what if...?" scenario depicting an architectural acievement gone awry. Macaulay also has a particular love for dreaming up very peculiar applications of vinyl siding- that part does get a little tedious, but this book is definitely worth a look. When I first looked at this book several years ago, I was too young to get many of the jokes, but I just pulled it out again today- what a great surprise!

I came upon this book in my search for history of architecture in general. Though I expected something entirely different, I was immediately caught in the book's charm. The illustrations are clever and their sarcasm unbeatable. A book to look at, time and time again.

I always find the author's work entertaining and informative. True, while Great Moments in Architecture is not as factual as some of his works, the sketches are beguiling, and the humor strikes a particularly concordant note with individuals involved in architectural careers.

Buy it and get a good chuckle out of it!