Art Architecture Photography Books

The lovely Rockefeller Center rightly kicks of this photographic Deco tour of New York. The exteriors of the six buildings have delights everywhere, for all to see, too.

The book though is very generalised and probably aimed at the tourist market because it has no contents, index or bibliography. What it does have are plenty of close-ups of the detail work that seems to adorn so many Manhattan buildings, frequently way above street level so that these gems are mostly missed. There is a super shot of one of the Chrysler eagles on pages 148-9, or the ornamental metalwork of a lightning bolt and a bird on the General Electric Tower, page fifty-one.

The one hundred and thirty eight photos are all in color and each has an informative caption. Between the photos text pages contain thoughts on Big Apple by a variety of writers and historical personalities, which again suggest the title is really a keepsake aimed at the visitor.

A similar photo book by Carla Breeze New York Deco, though lacking in so many close-ups takes a more guide book approach with copy and photos covering commercial, residential, entertainment, public and religious buildings plus an index and bibliography. If your curiosity goes further David Garrard Lowe's fascinating Art Deco New York, sums it all up within a serious historical perspective.

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

A rare glimpse into a glamorous New York as it once was. An amazing time machine. The photographs are of absolutely stunning quality.

I love the fantastic black and white images in this book, you forget how spectacularly beautiful the New York skyline was before the 50's, 60's and 70's international style of Mies and SOM ruined the skyline blocking many of these breathtaking buildings from view and altering an iconic american image forever. At any rate, this is a really good book, with well researched, interesting text and aforementioned great photo's. As you look at all the beautiful buildings and lament the loss of so many over the years, you can't help but want to throttle Robert Moses and David Rockefeller.

No regrets but I wish there were more photos of the city and street scenes.

When David Stravitz bought around five hundred glass negatives from a New Jersey photo shop in the late seventies I bet he didn't realise what a nice little earner he was onto. This treasure trove of images has so far produced two books, the amazing day-by-day building of the Chrysler Building (ISBN 1568983549) and now 'New York, Empire State'.

Both books follow the same format, page after page of very detailed architectural photographs of the city in the first fifty years of the last century. This book has a hundred images (thankfully in 175dpi) taken by commercial photographers Peyser and Patzig probably for architects and builders as a record of their endeavours.

It is the detail in the photos that makes the book so fascinating. Taken on eight by ten glass negs after carefully selecting the right position reveals street scenes and buildings where you can read the road signs and study the detail work on skyscrapers that would be impossible to see from street level. Nearly all the photos are of commercial property though near the end there shots of tenements, shops, sport arenas and Coney Island. Needless to say many of the buildings shown came down years ago.

Each picture has the name of the building or city area and Christopher Gray adds more detail on six pages at the back of the book and this is where I felt the reader has been badly let down by the publishers. There are 130 photo pages yet only sixteen have page numbers, which makes nonsense of Gray's page numbered captions and the three page comprehensive index. Strangely page 105, with a whole page photo does have a number and this, I assume, was to be the case with every page but someone screwed up! Very frustrating (and do I get a refund?).

I recently reviewed a similar architectural photo book about New York City with 170 stunning photos taken by Samuel Gottscho between 1925 and 1940. Included are some marvellous Manhattan night photos as well as shop and house interiors. Gottscho's work helped to define the popular skyline silhouette image of the big American city. Have a look at 'The Mythic City' (ISBN 1568985622) by Donald Albrecht.

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

A wonderful pictoral history of early 20th century New York. One will be astounded at the space between the buildings of the city and the level of architecture throughout. In our daily hustle, this book reminds us of the beauty of the many buildings that make up the skyline of New York. Enjoy.

We usually see bridges as an extension of the road we're on, never realizing that every bridge is a great venture unto itself, where creativity, engineering genius and big capital all come into play.
Mr. Cortright's book highlights the most beautiful and unusual bridges from around the world, covering a span of nearly 3000 years. They're all here, from ancient Roman arches to extravagant futuristic showpieces. Whether the locale is Buenos Aires or Shanghai, you'll find yourself daydreaming about who built these bridges and what it would be like to cross them. I picked up this book in an odd moment and found myself captivated for hours.

Ideal for bridge fans, but even better for those who simply like to travel in their imagination. Highly recommended.

An amazing book. Great photos of bridges all over the world. Very insightful. The book has inspired me to go Bridging and I use the book as a reference handbook.

Bridge aficionados are lucky that Bob Cortright is alive, well, and traveling the world with his camera and lifelong, unabashed love of bridges. In this, his third magnificent volume, Cortright takes his camera further afield to bring readers stunning, full color photographs of bridges from 28 countries across six continents. His witty, succinct commentary conveys fascinating lore and trivia about each bridge. A perfect gift for travelers, students, and pontists of all ages. To see more of Cortright's bridges, visit [...].

If you take bridges for granted, perhaps as part of a daily commute, you likely won't again after reading Robert Cortright's lovingly assembled book.

Whether it be a multi-century old stone bridge in the old world or a recently built cable-stayed structure, you can't help but pause to admire the hundreds of examples of man's handiwork in Bridging the World.

Grouped by the method of construction used, these bridges are a tribute to man's ingenuity and his need to communicate. Featuring bridges from almost 30 countries and from 6 continents, the book is guaranteed to leave you wanting to see more, perhaps even in your own locale.

BRIDGING THE WORLD would make a wonderful gift for anyone with an interest in engineering or architecture, an armchair traveler or history buff, or anyone who just likes beautiful photography. Cortright is a retired American banker who just loves bridges. This is his third book filled with bridge photos, and he's obviously very good at his craft. The photos are gorgeous, displaying bridges from all over the world, with 306 clear, colorful photos from 28 countries and six continents.

The photography is exquisite -- you can see the individual cables, the shadows on the water or canyon beneath the structure, and the texture of the stones and other materials used in the bridge construction. The book arranges the bridges more or less chronologically or by length of span. The photos are divided by method of construction used in the bridge -- beam, arch, suspension, cable-stayed, aqueducts and special bridges. The book begins with structures built in ancient times and moves on to huge, modern works of art. To see several of the photos, visit www.bridgeink.com. Strongly recommended, especially as a gift.

Having been in the web industry for some time, I thought I'd purchase this book to possibly increase my design skills.

Apart from the samples at the back, this book came across as very basic to me. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone who has experience in this area, rather, those who are looking to get into web developement/design.

I was initially attracted to this book by it's colorful cover and beautiful full color pages with 500 illustrations. Then, as I read through it, I realized that the author knows a lot about color theory and design.

The great thing is that unlike most books on color, he doesn't get overly detailed and overly scientific. He presents all the relevant information about color and how to use it to more effectively design your websites.

Another great part of this book is the gallery of "featured" websites. There are some 300 websites that he has pictures of that show some of the very best websites on the web. This is very inspirational.

This book is ideal for web designer who does not have visual art or art background. It gives a good amount of details about choosing color. If you are expert in web coding like html, css, javascript, this books gives you best to choose perfact color for your design.
I recommend this book. It's like "good-to-have" kind of book.

The first few chapters are filled with technical information on color. I found the explanations to be helpful reminders of how color works. The side-by-side screen shots of the differences in GIF and JPEG settings were also very useful as well as the comparisons between Mac and PC monitor views. However, I found the 300 website examples to be the most inspiring. I'm sure they will be great for brainstorming color combinations and styles. Not only are some great designs pictured, but the author's comments on each site's color usage made me realize WHY the colors look good together.

This is an excellent read and also a must to have in your library. The author disusses in great depth various Roman structures. In many of the sites, he goes into detail about where the material would come from, whether it was trade or something made from the city's natural sources, and also discusses influences among the Greeks and the Romans.

A perfect guide for roman mania interested in more than merely picture of its monumentum, this book contains colourful images of various types of ROMAN architecture scattered around its territory with plain explanation. And the book's hand-carry size makes your reading more confortable.

The French Quarter, by Jim Fraiser is one of countless books written about that unique, New Orleans neighborhood. It does stand out, however. In my opinion, it's the most comprehensive, beautiful book I've ever seen on the Quarter. West Freeman's photography is outstanding! Happilly, practically every major building is photographed. The history of the Quarter and of the architecture of the buildings is excellent and scholarly. I highly reccommend this magisterial book!

This is a really substantial, solid book that has nice binding, clear and attractive pictures and plenty of info about the demographics and attractions of New Orleans.
It's a classy book which is one of those keepsakes you would be proud to pull out and use as a conversation piece whenever the big easy came up.
I can honestly say this book was well worth the money.

Let me first say that this is a wonderful book, with wonderful photographs and interesting text, the books images really capture the Quarter, they are quite vivid and well thought out, more beautiful historic buildings at every turn of the page and thank God it was spared the wrath of Katrina, but this review is about the Cresent City. As an American, I am disgraced at the nations response to your plight, I will, personally donate my time and money to make this up to you, you are one of the great American cities and a national treasure, you will rebound, we Americans, particularly Southerners, like myself, will never allow you to sink into the Mississippi, we love you New Orleans and with our sweat and tears we will help you rebuild, no matter the cost, you will reserect like a phoenix, and I will be the one of the first to visit and celebrate your reemergence as one of the premier American cities, God Speed New Orleans.

To almost anyone, Tiffany and Co. and Palm Beach would go hand and hand, analagous like Lalique and Monte Carlo. The concept for this book is very interesting and the author fully realizes how to exploit the two to their most advantagious. The text is highly informative and the images are crisp and beautifully presented. I agree with one of the reviews that this is an expensive coffee table book, but frankly im sure those interested in this sort of thing, will not think twice about the price of admission. Really a wonderful book on a very interesting subject, well done indeed.

For most people, this kind of lifestyle is only a dream, but wow, what colourful and beautiful dreams. This book is choc full of stunning photos that reflect the wealth some people luckily or unluckily have. Their houses (or should I say shrines) are treasures in their own rights, but the possesions inside are also gems. The Tiffany theme is reflected in here all the way through and there is some stunning pieces. This is a pricey 'coffee table' book, but it's so beautiful, you'll be glad you treated yourself or someone else.

There isn't much substance to this book......
Fun pictures, but nothing much more

Loved this book. I purchased it merely for inspiration photos for my own construction, but found myself reading each page!! Very interesting read!

This book shows that given enough money there is no limit to how young, thin and attractive your wife can be. And apparently there is no limit to the hubris of the rich--designer wine cellars on a hurricane prone barrier island.
Last I checked there were over 260 homes for sale on Palm Beach with an asking price of $2 million up.
A great coffee table book. And a pictorial guide to The Season by Ronald Kessler that is sitting on my book shelves awaiting a read.