3 comments about Ideo Eyes Open: New York (Eyes Open).

1. This book from Ideo authors shows a creative approach to exploring New York City. Some of the recommended visits are unusual and out-of-the-ordinary, but are ways of seeing the unusual. I look forward to similar reviews of other U.S. cities.



2. I'm posting similar reviews for this pair of Ideo Eyes Open guides, one for Ideo Eyes Open: New York and one for Ideo Eyes Open: London, because they were released at the same time and share a common approach, with some promise of more guides to follow in the series.
   
   Ideo is a design and image consulting firm that has created this series incorporating some of its more general design approaches and hoping the reader will slow down and look at usual things in an unusual way: "It's really just a matter of getting out there and opening yourself up to it all." Both books are beautifully designed, handy in the back pack or purse, with some clever "for your comments" stickers to highlight your own favorites.
   
   The firm made its name in designing products, including the Palm V, but more recently has focused on environment design. Fred Dust is team leader of Smart Space, the company's real estate division and the editor of this series. One of Dust's first projects was Dilbert's Ultimate Cubicle designed in consultation with Scott Adams. It featured a boss monitor, an electronic window, a fold down Murphy chair, an Aquarium module and a roll up hammock.
   
   In their projects, the team the starts with a "deep dive," during which "Smart Space designers, anthropologists and researchers spend days -- sometimes weeks -- shadowing people to observe how they live: when and where they eat, what time they go to bed, what their hobbies are, how they spend their money." The Eyes Open website and guide books follow the same approach: they publish unique experiences shared by IDEO staff and friends, and offering site visitors the opportunity to submit their own unique experiences in text and imagery.
   
   Here are a couple of examples from the London guide of suggestions:
   
   "Instead of taking high tea at a hotel lounge, go to Coffee@157. The light fixtures in this coffeehouse, as you can see, are made of to-go cups. Outside, a yellow vending machine dispenses artworks for less than 5 pounds each."
   
   "Crumbs and Doilies is a boutique cupcake shop in the Sunday UpMarket, which is a spontaneous gathering of people selling arts and crafts and playing carom."
   
   I'm not entirely sure who these guides will appeal to; there is precious little of the traditional guidebook information about prices, opening hours, travel directions, etc. But the goal is certainly worthy: opening yourself to your surroundings while traveling can be a wonderful experience. I remember once sitting in a shady cave high above a canyon in Utah one hot summer day enjoying the scenery. Suddenly, I realized my body fit the hollow perfectly, and saw to my surprise that the rock had been hollowed out to make a comfortable seat. All at once I was engulfed in a culture several hundred years old, re-living the life of sentries watching for approaching enemies.
   
   These guidebooks promise the same flashes of discovery, and so far they have delivered on a couple of occasions in New York City. I can hardly wait to try out this edition in London later this year.
   
   Robert C. Ross 2008



3. Not just an unusually thoughtful collection of places you'll want to eat, shop, and play. IDEO's keen observations and photos spark curiosity about how our improvisations and adaptations shape public space. A hip crash course in the cultural anthropology of modern NY.

5 comments about Meetings with Remarkable Trees.

1. As I recall it, I first saw this book in 1996 or 1997 at the Midnight Special Bookstore in Santa Monica before they closed. The photographs of the trees were the most breathtaking photographs of trees I had ever encountered. I didn't buy the book then, but I remembered it for a long time afterward, and then my husband gave me a copy of it for Christmas a few years ago.
   
   What I particularly like about this book - beside the photographs - is that it contains a Gazetteer at the back which tells the reader where the trees are located, what page they are pictured on, what kind of tree they are and whether they are accessible to the public, whether they are part of the Forest Enterprise or whether they are part of the National Trust. It also gives the reader a designation for Champion trees with full measurements. This is very handy and has saved me from having to pull all this information together myself.
   
   My husband and I are going to be in Surrey this summer and we are looking forward to paying a visit to several of the trees mentioned - in particular - the Crowhurst Yew (pp. 120-21) and the Tandridge Yew (pp. 22-23) located in the churchyard at Tandridge in Surrey. These are probably the most spectacular. There are also several others at Kew Gardens which we are hoping to visit (tulip tree p. 61, hybrid strawberry p. 67, chestnut-leaved oak p. 71, maidenhair (Ginko), p. 83, Chinese wisteria p. 151, as well as the Knap Hill weeping beech p. 155, at the Knapp Hill Nursery in Surrey).
   
   The introduction is very poignant. Pakenham recalls his encounters with trees which prompted him to create this book. He recalls a severe storm in Ireland in January, 1991, which toppled 12 out of 19, of his 200 year old, 100 foot high beech trees which once inhabited his garden - "all had been good friends to five generations of our family." "Why had I not looked at them more carefully before?" he asks.



2. I happened to find this paperback version on the bargain shelf at Borders for $5, and I made the decision to buy it just on looking at the first photograph alone. Impulsive? Yeah, but I don't regret it at all. I just bought this book tonight, so I haven't actually read it yet. However, just looking at the photographs was mesmerizing. There are some really incredible trees out there in the world and I think the author has done a great job of capturing some of them. If you don't come across this book on a bargain shelf somewhere don't worry, it is well worth the price that Amazon is asking.



3. Pakenham's Meetings with Remarkable Trees and his Remarkable Trees of the World are portraits, not just pictures, each book documenting the impressive presence of sixty venerable trees from around the world. Pakenham groups them by their histories: Natives, Travelers, Shrines, Fantasies and Survivors. Each is a testimony to the majesty of Nature's creativity, diversity and adaptability.
   
   Pakenham shares the unique history of each of these outstanding personalities, in the context of its species and its struggles for survival - ever threatened by man's over-cutting and under-husbandry of these irreplaceable resources.
   
   Inspirational!



4. This is an amazing book from the stunning photographs to the detailed stories about each remarkable tree. It is also scattered with beautifull 18thC etching of illustrated trees that refer to the tree being discussed.I found this book quite beautiful. I would definately recommend this book to anyone who is passionate about trees. Or to anyone who is looking for great photograhic reference as I was.



5. If you need a gift for a nature lover or photographer that you really like, this is the book for them. And get yourself a copy while you're at it.
   
   Briefly, the author takes wonderful photographs of trees that affect and inspire him in Great Britain. Included with each tree is a history of the tree and facts and vignettes associated with the tree. His camera-work is impeccable and if you've ever tried to photograph a whole tree you will recognize the talent and work that have gone into this book.
   
   The writing that accompanies the pictures is compelling and interesting. The author has obviously done his homework.
   
   You can lose yourself for an hour at a time, or you can put this on your coffee table and get compliments from your guests, but have one in your library where you can get inspired and calm at the same time.

5 comments about The Illustrated Alamo 1836: A Photographic Journey.

1. This is a very nice model Mr. Lemon has made, and it is a great work of the imagination by an artist.
   
   The tower he has put on the church with the flag is an especially delightful work of fancy. He has removed this structure from a nearby building in order to return our focus to the famous iconic chapel; it takes a true artist to take such risks.
   
   In a powerful turn of irony, he has reimagined the northern defensive perimeter as a smooth ramp of dirt, as if in order to sarcastically invite the assaulting Mexicans to walk up it and over the wall. They are so stupid they probably would, too! Oh, those Mexicans. No wonder they lost.
   
   Oh, wait.
   
   Along the east wall, he has asked us to envision, and, to help us, totally invented, a row of nicely thatched cottages as living quarters, tucked cozily up under the battlements. Perfectly spaced at three or four feet from every clean and properly mounted cannon is a small, uniform box of shot. More irony: apparently, every morning, the Alamo is swept and raked.
   
   My favorite embellishment is the enormous rack of butchered cow Lemon rather centrally locates in the fort, in plain view of all 200+ inmates, because to butcher in front of the livestock would unsettle it. Get it? No better subrosa comment on the carneceria of the massacre scene might be made. And one can immediately see the wisdom of setting up the butcher shop directly in front of an important defensive wall. No attacking Mexican in his right mind would want to confront the deeply meaningful display of racked, red meat.
   
   The Alamo for a new generation... well, for the tiring generation of old white guys who were first inspired by Disney's ridiculous Alamo... has now been imprinted and approved by the legend's religious authorities. It is the Alamo we have been looking for and which we deserve: clean, preposterous, vacant so we can visit and leave it safely.



2. This was an incredible book. You can go to what is left of the Alamo today and try and imagine it, but this book brings it all together for anyone interested in this amazing story. Beautiful art and camera work gives it a realistic feel. Definitely a great book.



3. I am surely not well informed enough to comment intelligently upon the details of Mark Lemon's work, but it certainly appears he has done an extraordinarily thorough job of researching and analyzing and integrating every scrap of evidence about the Alamo's configuration at the time of the 1836 battle. Lemon has then used that research to create an intensely detailed, accurate 1:48 scale model of the complex. And in "The Illustrated Alamo 1836: A Photographic Journey" he presents us with sharp, clear photographs of the model, supplemented by the author's sketches and drawings of various details. The photographs of the model, naturally lit and inserted into natural backgrounds, create a persuasive illusion that we are looking at the real thing, that somehow Mark Lemon has taken his camera back to 1836 aboard a flying time machine.
   
   Anyone intrigued by the story -- and the mysteries -- of the Alamo battle cannot help but being enthralled by "The Illustrated Alamo 1836". It is one of those books that really creates a "you are there" experience.



4. It is beautiful, you really have the feeling that somebody went back to the Alamo in march 1836 with a digital camera!



5. This book was recommended to me by the excellent staff at the John Wayne Alamo set in Bracketville, Texas. Mark Lemon does a FANTASTIC job of taking us back in time to give us, for the first time, a painstakingly researched, meticulously crafted, image of what the Alamo looked like at the time of the siege. A visit to the Alamo set in Bracketville along with this book are must haves/do for any Alamo history buff. Of the many books about the Alamo in my library, this is the one I will show family and friends who come to visit us in San Antonio. Just a stunning, stunning work.

5 comments about Adobe Photoshop Elements 6: A Visual Introduction to Digital Photography (book with CD).

1. I leave this on my desk as I often go to it as a refrence. The enclosed cd is a big help. When learning a new technique step by step. I would of given this a 5 star, but I would of appreciated if Mr. Andrews organized a seprate chapter on making selections and a seprate chapter on Layers, as these are the really strong aspects that makes Elements a cut above other photo software instead of combining the two into one chapter.



2. I highly recommend this book with Photoshop elements 6....A great help and easy to understand



3. Very clear explanations, easy to follow, I'm enjoying learning. I have done some minor things and my confidence is growing. I recommend this book by Philip Andrews strongly.



4. In college I took a required course to learn what kind of learner I was. I thought it was stupid and didn't want to go. Everyone knows you learn by reading books. What I found out was that I had a much higher retention rate in the visual mode. Made college a lot easier. This book is a good example of a text for the visual learner. Very well laid out and paced.
   
   My one complaint was that it was a bit skimpy on the Organizer. Many of us have a mess of photos that we need to organize. This organizer eliminates the need for sub-folder after sub-folder but the book does not highlight that strength nearly enough.
   
   I highly recommend the book for the new-to-digital-photography set.



5. ***THIS REVEW IS FOR THE CD ONLY***
   
   I really like how the CD explains the PE 6. It shows the entire screen as it helps you through the tutorials. Very helpful to me, one who is new to the PE programs and requires an audio and moving visual way of learning.
   
   The bad part is that the audio on the CD I received was garbled with a distorted sound throughout the disc. Some of the subheadings were worse than others as far as the audio distortion goes.
   
   I contacted Focal Press, talked to a tech guy. He helped me try some things on my computer that did not end up helping with the audio trouble I had with this disc. Later he went over his copy, then emailed me to say that his copy was not effected. I returned my first copy, received a second and it did the same thing in the exact same places. So I returned the second copy as well.
   
   Before returning the second copy, I even tried down loading the free quick time by Apple, which a website for another book had recommended for their audio trouble in hopes it would help this one. It did not help my CD trouble with this book. (I do not have any other trouble with audios with my computer from any other discs. Just the CD that came with this book.)
   
   I then bought the book: How to Cheat in Adobe Photoshop Elements 6 for it's CD. I was disappointed with the only partial view of the screen. This was very limiting since it doesn't show where to click so you can try it for yourself.
   
   If anyone has a tip on how I can get this CD to work on my PC (A Dell Inspiron 6400 please let me know so I can buy another book and try it again.) I learned several things on PE 6 software from the CD that came with this book but can't remember them all. The garble distortion was so annoying! Hopefully your disc will be fine.
   
   (4 stars is for the CD only and it is missing a star due to the audio garble and distortion.)

5 comments about Richard Avedon Portraits.

1. I looked at this book that I just received today and I thought, "These are good fotos but.....but....there is something missing." What is "missing"? The background for one thing! I want to KNOW MORE about these people than Avedon gives us. These portraits are "better than nothng" but...but...who are these people? There are very few "clues" to help us answer that question. On the contrary, Diana Arbus DOES "tell" us who her people are"---both in words and in their surroundings or background environment which Ms. Arbus DOES include. I think Mr. Avedon should throw away his "white sheet" or whatever he uses and show the subject with their environmnet. I'm sure the subjects in this book do NOT carry around a white sheet to put behind themselves! So, why does Mr. Avedon feel he has to use the white sheet? I don't get it and I don't like it. But, the above being said, these ARE very good portraits even with their alledged "defects". Boland7214@aol.com



2. This book is absolutely exquisite. The photographs are stunning and insightful If you are not familiar with Avedon's male nudes--I wasn't--you should be aware that many of them are full frontal and not in any way prettified, pornographic, or erotic. I include this because none of the other reviews mentioned it. Had I been more familiar with the book's contents, perhaps I would not have left the book out on the kitchen counter for the wrong (adult) friend to unfold it before I did!! Yeah, I know, I should have known better . . . . Duh.



3. I bought this book for my photography friend for Christmas. She was blown away. From the moment you open the package, it is clear this book is worlds apart from your standard photography book. Every photo is frame-ready. I highly recommend for the picky photography enthusiast.



4. The format allows for a stand-up display down the entire length of a coffee table! Pretty cool if you ask me;
   Got this as a christmas gift for my art-school-grad photographer/niece. It caused something of a stir when the holiday guests started to look at everyone elses presents.. Along the lines of "Don't let the kids look at that book" and "Let me see it' and "Ewwww".



5. It is not really a book, but an art object: accordion folded and neatly ensconced in a box, its heavy cardboard structure makes it a durable thing, one that transcends the notion of a mere "book." It is an object of intrinsic beauty and the mere holding of it in one's hands conveys the good taste, fine quality, and the superb craftmanship that were blended to create PORTRAITS.
   
   One side of the fold contains text -with some pictures- and the other the portfolio of portraits. Maria Hambourg and Mia Fineman collaborate in the essay "Avedon's Endgame," which presents, analyzes and brings into focus the extraordinary talent behind the portraits; and Richard Avedon gives us a touching essay called "Borrowed Dogs," in which he addresses some of his unquiet talents. The other side is one's private gallery of 27 pictures (including the covers) to be savored at home, each image a meticulous print. In all it is an extraordinary performance by those involved, and a jewel to possess.
   
   Avedon has pushed the borders of his art far beyond picture taking: a master psychologist, his portraits are potent statements about the soul and the fears and the anger and the dilapidation and the triumph and the humanity of his subjects. His pictures are so intense and revealing that the viewer cannot remain neutral. The diptych of Clarence Lippard, a drifter, makes one see more than we have any right to ask for: because if we must view the horror of a wasted life on one panel we must also accept the defiant triumphalism and humor that the second panel conveys. Waste no pity on Mr. Lippard, he asks no such thing from you.
   
   I shall often return to this jewel for solace; and for a jolt about the meaning of being alive and a human being.

4 comments about The Art of the American Snapshot, 1888-1978.

1. There has been very little written on the snapshot, particulary as it relates to the development of photovision. Sara Greenough has put together an excellent exhibit on the subject. This catalogue only goes into the 1970s. Now she has to carry the snapshot into the digital world.



2. 
   Sir John F. Herschel gets credit for coining the word "snapshot" in 1860; "The possibility of taking a photograph, as it were by a snap-shot -- of securing a picture in a tenth of a second of time." (He also coined "photography" itself, and was the first to apply "negative" and "positives" to photography.) Given his wide ranging interests, I'm sure he would have loved this book as much as I do.
   
   The editors divide 1888 to 1978 into four periods. The first is discussed in Diane Waggoner's essay, "Photographic Amusements." Eastman Kodak was dominant with the Brownie: "You push the button, we do the rest (or you can do it yourself)."
   
   Sarah Kennel covers 1920-1939 in "Quick, Casual Modern." Their PR folks peppered the roads with "Picture Ahead! Kodak as you go!" Eastman Kodak also tied the permanence of photos to family values: "Kodak began to stress use of the camera to counter the truancy of memory, particularly with regard to family stability."
   
   Sarah Greenough's covers 1940-1959 with "Fun Under the Shade of the Mushroom Cloud." Kodak introduced Kodachrome in 1936 and Kodacolor in 1942. Snapshots were tied to social life. "Life" taught Americans pictorial journalism. Snapping pictures was "modern".
   
   Matthew Witkovsky ends with "When the Earth Was Square." "It is the period when daily life, turned by a nation of consumers into an unending succession of narcissistic photo ops, becomes fodder for media spectacle, creating the lottery-like promise of instant but evanescent celebrity for everyone. ... These are the years when nothing is sacred yet everything is ritualized; when no one and everyone is special, and all things are made potentially interesting in pictures; and when amnesia, which thrives on prosperity, takes, hold, leaving memory to scatter and fade in billions of little prints."
   
   The history is grand and enlightening, of course, but for me the images are key. The book is beautifully printed and bound; there is plenty of white space around each shot. You are free to flip through quickly, or stop and puzzle for lost minutes over a single image.
   
   I have three suggestions for anyone interested in photography. First, read John Updike's wonderful review of this book free online on "The New Yorker" website.
   
   Second, consider the words of Robert Jackson who put this collection together: as Updike writes: "his afterword to the catalogue manages to cast a pall of reasonableness over his curious passion. He coins the phrase 'a visual trophy' for a medium that 'seeks to preserve an idealized and individualized moment in time.' Attempting to explain the collector's motives, he claims, 'It is the anonymous snapshot's immediacy, inherent honesty, and unstudied freedom from external influence that are the draw. . . . The personal can therefore become impersonal.' Ah, but, then again, 'a collector can have a subjective interest in a snapshot's narrative content as a surrogate for life experiences. Thus the personal remains personal, if you will.'"
   
   Third, buy this book.
   
   
   Robert C. Ross 2008



3. I love this treasure trove of a book. Leafing through it takes me back time and time again to specific photos from family albums over the years. The book is a collaborative work that captures the essence of Americans' love affair with the camera.
   
   The narrative divides the ninety years into four "generations" of the evolution of the snapshot: thirty years of beginnings followed by three twenty-year periods celebrating the interactions of the technical developments and the cultural idiosyncrasies of each era.
   
   While the "plates" of photographs selected from Jackson's collection for exhibition form the book's core, the authors have introduced a sprinkling of "figures" of other photographs--and Kodak ads, in particular--to complete their histories. The Timeline of Technical Milestones at the end is nicely executed.
   
   I've no idea how the authors would characterize the last two decades of the twentieth century, but I'm certain that the first two decades of the twentieth century belong to digital photography. I'd love to read their take on this generation of the American snapshot.



4. I can't speak highly enough of this wonderfully rich book on the grand topic of the American snapshot. The essays are full of revealing information about how big a role the snapshot has played in our culture. The generous sampling of photographs gives us shots that are entirely unique, each in its ow way, and yet they are also familiar, if you are old enough to remember the days of Kodak cameras, especially the Brownie. I found the best review of this great book at www.ronslate.com.

2 comments about John Waters (Place Space).

1. Every John Waters fan must own this! I feel like I'm peeping through the windows of his house spying on him. How cool is that? Fake plastic food, kitschy collectibles, and a library that puts mine to shame. Highly recommended from a huge Waters fan!



2. I am so pleased with this item!!! I am an avid fan of Mr John Waters, and all of his works. My collection would not be complete, without this magazine.
   
   It is soooo righteous! All of these photos of HIS HOME, his crazy crazy collection of weird vintage stuff. His porn, his literature, his knicknacks (his house is full of glass food!). It's just fabulous. Get it now.
   
   If you DON'T know who John Waters is... but you like interesting voyeuristic ventures into a complete strangers interesting, flamboyant, original, awesome private home... then you too will dig this excellent bit of media. ;>

3 comments about Washington, DC: A Photographic Portrait.

1. This book has tremendous photos of our nations capital!! If you have not been, this book will make you want to go. It makes for a great family vacation!!
   
   Billy Wannyn



2. Having just recently called DC home, Jake McGuire's photographs have been a great introduction to the DC area. His work is not only artistic, but captures the details of the unique architecture in this region. The book provides a great introduction to every newcomer and visitor to the area.



3. For anyone who loves Washington, D.C. this book is not to be missed. The photographs are unique and show familiar locations in unusual delightful perspectives. For those who have not been to the nation's capital it will surely whet the desire to make the trip. It makes a wonderful gift which can be appreciated for many years.

No comments about The Civil Contract of Photography.

2 comments about Animals in Motion.

1. The images of the dray horses pulling heavy loads is worth the price of admission for me. This is a great reference for artists who want to create realistic images of animals in motion. It's a fabulous settler of bar room bets. It's a source of animated gifs for web designers (I have the running cat image that's been going around.)

   For people who want to understand animals in general, this is a good reference. I never thought that all the ways an animal can go from point A to point B each had a name to it and that a quadruped can have so many ways to move.

   Its an interesting historical piece, too. People do not see horses doing useful work any more and it's a reminder that we all had a life before internal combustion. Its an interesting chapter in the history of photography and the history of art, too. (Painting was never the same after people figured out how animals really moved.)




2. Muybridges momumental work photographing animals in all different gates and poses and tests of ability. Using sometimes up to 100 cameras for a single set up to gain what is now the definitive guide for animators in understanding the motion of animals. It all started with a $25,000 bet: Eadweard Muybridge and a friend argued whether all four of the horses hooves leave the ground completely at any point during a gallop. Being funded for the project, Muybridge proved to be the winner in saying that horses do in fact leave the ground for a momentary second in their strides. The book begins with an anlaysis of locomotion, going over the walk, the amble, the trot, the rack (or pace), the canter, the transverse-gallop, the rotary-gallop, and the richochet, along with the leap and buck and kick. There are roughly 4,000 photos in this collection which claims to be the largest collection of animals in motion. It features not only horses but lions, deers, oxen, elephants, birds and kangaroos. From this development, Muybridge not only discovered that horses gallop with no feet touching the ground, but his discovery led to motion pictures, in which his photos is a very crude version of cinema today. Later he designed a viewer called a Zoogyroscope (or Zoopraxiscope) which, similar to a Zoetrope, was a carousel with slits which you look through while it is spinning to give the illusion of motion (or persistence of vision). Today these pictures are looked at for a couple of reasons, mostly as nastolgia for one to have wonder and excitement of this simple cinema, but it also is a great reference for modern animators. In fact, for those looking at animation, I can tell you that if you ask for an application to Walt Disney Animation Studios, they will give you their requirements and texts, this will be on the list. Highly reccomended for the artist, graphic, fine arts or animation or anything else you can dream of.