Art Architecture Photography Books

A great compendium of the most spectacular designs of the year, from posters to ads. The quality and the brightness of the color pictures is worth gold - a book suitable for both design professionals and coffee table books lovers

3.5 starts would have been my rating if given that option.

The Natural House is essentially Wrights explanation/defense/sales-pitch for his Usonian houses. The first chapter (Organic Architecture) was written by Wright in 1936 and originally published in The Architect's Journal of London. The next four chapters (Building the New House, In the Nature of Materials: A Philosophy, The Usonian House I, The Usonian House II) were written by Wright and first published in 1943 in "An Autobiography". The remainder of the book was written by Wright in 1953-4.

I found the first 67 pages to be a difficult read. I am not an architect and suspect that an architect would get more out of these first three chapters. These chapters were part autobiography, part history, part philosophy and part contemptuous rant against all architects who were not his own students. Having plodded through those pages, I feel that I could have skipped them.

Suddenly, on the 68th page, the book takes a dramatic turn and becomes a much easier read. This last three-fourths of the book explains Unosian architecture in very accessible terms. There are multiple examples of houses with photographs of exterior and interior views and floor plans. I found the floor plans to be the most beneficial and interesting part of the book and would buy the book for the floor plans alone.

In the explanatory text Wright discusses building location, foundations, lighting, materials, insulation, heating, cooling, furnishings, contractors, etc. Each topic is discussed in fairly general terms, but since Wright's approach is quite different from most other architects, the general explanations are valuable.

In the chapter titled "Grammar: The House as a Work of Art" Wright again waxes philosophical, but this time in a more understandable manner (having written this part of the book much later than the first chapters).

Wright devotes 11 pages to a brief explanation of what he calls the Usonian Automatic. This is essentially a cinderblock and steel rod home that can be assembled by the homeowner.

Wright closes the book by comparing his philosophy of architecture to that of the Orient. He concludes that even though the two philosophies are similar, his is original because he developed it ignorant of the Orient's philosophies and only learned of those philosophies after his philosophy was developed.

Having read the book I feel that I have a much better understanding of Wright as a person than I did from having read books about his architecture (the benefit of reading the first 67 pages). I also now have a very good understanding of Usonian architecture.

Written in 1954, this short book is somewhat dated but Wright's words and thoughts are universal enough to be meaningful today. Wright's view of "The Natural House" adds cultural understanding to how we build and describes an idealistic precursor to contemporary "eco-building." Required reading for anyone who is interested in the curtural context of the building process.

Gary Winogrand came out of the generation of street photography inspired by Henri Cartier-Bresson that included Diane Arbus, Robert Frank, Lee Friedlander, and Joel Meyerowitz. He worked at framing the "decisive moment" as he filled his black and white composition with split-second accuracy and detail. His subjects are caught mid-flight in candid moments of personal introspection, or engaged in social activity. There are photos of secretaries walking back to their Manhattan mid-town offices after lunch. There are photos of couples dancing, holding each other's gaze and unaware that the camera has recorded their intimate glance into each other's eyes. He shot the famous at night clubs, and took photos of passengers arriving and departing international airports. Wherever there were people on lines at movies, at airports, or walking down crowded city avenues, or stopping at store windows, or entering and exiting revolving doorways of skyscrapers, or of people waiting at street corners, kids hanging out, the elderly on benches, the young in love in each other's arms, Winogrand was there with his camera.

What you see through his lens is his version of America, of who we are, and what we look like, and how we fill in the spaces we inhabit from small towns in America out west, to the big city streets of Los Angeles and New York. He captures us as we work and play, he records how we gape as spectators at rodeos or at stippers at strip tease clubs, or at movies, or at square dances and Fourth of July parades in small-towns. He captures us at home, in our yards, in our cars, at zoos and at ball games and in our rooms isolated and alone.

Winogrand captures the soul of a nation. He is artful in his use of black and white in that he cuts a slice of reality and presents it as a full meal for our eyes to feast on. You can enter his composition from any angle and find a way into his image.

Winogrand is an American master, and this collection gathers the best of his many exhibits and shows and books of photographs and lays them out in chronological fashion, from the early 1950s to the the early 1980s in order that we can study the development of his genius over the course of his career.

You won't regret putting this one in your collection. Garry probably lost the plot out there in tv land toward the end but Moma maestro plucks 20 or 30 pictures out of the dead zone to give us a treat. Frankly liked the post-humous stuff just as much and the book gives you a super buzz if you like that good ol' street stalker stuff. Don't even think about it ...whack it in the collection or send it as a gift...it's a great book.

a wonderful collection of images from street photographer garry winnogrand--this collection if from all over the country during the 50's, 60's and 70's

A very good retrospective of Garry Winogrand's career. All my favourite Winogrand photos are included, and the quality of the printing is excellent -- the images are not too dark nor too contrasty, with plenty of detail.

The Art of Seeing is the latest, and most unique, book in my small but growing library on photography. I bought it because I was taking the same photographs over and over again and getting bored and frustrated with a hobby that I used to really enjoy. This book helped me work on the most important tool of photography: my eyes.
This book does what it says: teaches the art of seeing. I have been stuck in a rut of trying to take the pictures that I am "supposed" to take according to what my preconceptions tell me make a good photograph. This book encourages you to see everything differently and to photograph whatever you want.
Doeffinger breaks the book down into different aspects of what makes a picture, including color, depth, and form. He teaches you how to gain a new respect for every part of what makes a picture great while encouraging you figure out on your own what would make a picture great for you. While being a more abstract book, it does not fail to mention what techniques will help you bring out what you see with your eyes and put in on film. It does assume that you already know the basics of photography such as arpeture and film grain, but is careful not to go over the heads of beginners. Being an out of print book, the pictures are a little outdated but overall I would recommend this book to any photographer trying to put new life into their pictures.

.
Save your money.
This book is virtually content free.
96 pages and most of them are pictures.
Which IMHO any average snapshooter already can do.

And if you can't this isn't the book to start with.
.
This book is barely an outline of a few topics concerning how to see.
.
The only substance, and I speak loosely, was to break the rules.
Use different angles. Look at parts instead of the big picture.

I infer that if most of your pictures are colored blue that that must be good as the author had a lot of blue pictures.
.
A good book on composition, and admittedly those are very rare too, would tell you more about seeing. At least then you could look for elements to put together.

This book spent a lot of its few (about 48) pages of instrution doing a second rate job on composition versus actually seeing.
.
Read it at the library, as you will feel cheated if you spend $20-$25 for this to buy it.
.

Wabi Sabi for the artist and poet by ?? (Kamen??) would tell you more about seeing than this book.
.
There are a few good photog books out there. Feininger would blow this one away if you can still find copies.

This is just another one of the disappointments. And it wasnt even artsycraftsy just blah.
.

This is a very good book for breaking out of the rut when you find yourself totally stuck for things to photograph. While some of the images remind one of those you might take in an introduction to photography class, that's not all bad. It gets your creative juices flowing again. Book helps you break repetitive image making and promotes creative thought processes, and it's not as dull as this sounds.

This is one of the best books that highten your photographic abilities. It makes you aware of preconceptions you may have about photography, and encourages you to explore your seeing and observation skills. Included are chapters on what elements make up a scene, the importance of composition and lighting, and varying your ways of looking and treating the subject. I've reread it several times, learning new things everytime. It's remarkably well written and is non-technical.

A good intro book to expand the beginning photographers understanding of visual imagery. Will open your mind to new ways of viewing the world around you and lead you to create more interesting and engaging photos.

I was highly disappointed in the content of this book. I was expecting so much more. About the only interesting portion of the book was the section on the Mondavi home. Other than that, it stinks. This is not even worthy of coffee table book status. My suggestion: Save your money and don't purchase it; instead treat yourself to a coffee at the bookstore.

This is an updated paperback version of one of the first decorating books I ever purchased. Cool California rooms with styles that range from contemporary to more classic looks. Even though this book is several years old I still go back to it and use it as a resource. Overall I would call the main look shown... Casual Elegance.