As good as they get

Edwin Smith (1912-71) was a photographer of the British heritage. That sounds pretty dry, but once you have seen the work of this architect-painter-photographer, you realize that he really is as good as they get.

His wonderful vision, perfect technique and aesthetic sensibilities are perfectly displayed in this book, published by Merrell and the Royal Institute of British Architects, with monochrome reproductions of the very highest quality.

If high aesthetic sense is your thing, executed at an incomparable level of excellence, this book is for you.

Superb and original work.

I make no secret of the fact that I dislike authority in nearly all its guises, for so much of it is mindless. So when it says “Don’t Walk on the Grass” I generally make a point of doing just that.

Jonathan Haeber is a kindred spirit, but one much more daring. I last referred to his work when he showed pictures of the awful Jackling Mansion – Steve Jobs’s property in Woodside, CA, which he is having such difficulty tearing down owing to misplaced envirolooney thinking, and possibly by local councillors looking for a kickback. C’mon, let’s get real here.

This time, with his pictures clandestinely snapped from within the abandoned PacBell building in San Francisco, Haeber has outdone himself. With friends he gained access to the innards of this neo-Gothic masterpiece through a manhole cover in the dead of night, and the results speak for themselves.

Click the picture for more:

The PacBell building at night

Our world needs more Haebers to restore the ‘can do’ American spirit and to deny creeping authoritarianism. Well done, sir.