Dead.

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Whereas lamenting dead malls – see the previous blogpost – is hard, as who really cares about their mostly abominable architecture, Rob Dobi’s record of dead theaters, manufacturing plants and, most troubling of all, psychiatric institutions, is poignant and moving. Many of these buildings pose immense issues owing to the presence of dangerous chemicals or asbestos, so tearing them down to build something new is a non-trivial task. So many just sit there, rotting.

The changes in psychiatric care, with greater sensitivity to the needs of patients, saw many 20th century psychiatric hospitals closed, their inhumane treatment of the mentally ill a thing of the past. Thank goodness for that. These are beautifully photographed in this small book which maximizes impact by full page bleed of the excellent photography. The author occasionally struggles with the extreme dynamic range in some of hs settings but that’s a minor quibble.

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The author’s talent is not limited to photography. He is also a professional illustrator and you can see more of his work at RobDobi.com.

Dying.

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We live in a post-mall age. Amazon has taken over retailing and, likely as not, the mall in your home town is now an Amazon fulfillment center.

Seph Lawless’s fine photography in this large book makes for depressing viewing and I confess I could only take his images a chapter at a time. But as a chronicle of what was once the quintessential American experience, the book belongs in any photo library.

One of the fathers of photojournalism.

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In 1947 four of the great photojournalists in Europe created Magnum Photos. They were Robert Capa, David “Chim” Seymour, Henri Cartier-Bresson and George Rodger. But America’s LIFE magazine, recreated as a photo weekly, had been in the photojournalism business since 1936. Its first cover was by Margaret Bourke-White. Alfred Eisenstaedt followed one week later. By the conclusion of his career he had 90 LIFE covers under his belt. Eisenstaedt had had the foresight to leave his native Germany for New York in 1936 before the German killing machine could get at him and his family. Indeed, the apocryphal story has it that it was learning of Elsie’s ethnicity that put the scowl on Goebbels’s face in the famous image below.

Eisie was a lifelong devotee of the Leica camera, maintaining that its inconspicuous appearance – in contrast to the large plate cameras favored by many of his contemporaries – helped put his subjects at ease. Well, maybe not Goebbels.

This book is a marvelous collection of his finest images. Whereas HC-B specialized in composition of his many street pictures, Eisie was much more the journeyman snapper who could always be relied on to get the job done. Unlike HC-B he was also a fine portraitist, as these images show:

GBS

Goebbels – evil personified

Oppie

La Hepburn

WSC in 1951. A lovely, warm portrait.

Eisie also had a fine sense of humor:

Miami Beach on a cold day

If you like great portraiture and great photojournalism, this book belongs in your library.

Note: These high quality scans of the images in the book were made using the fine scanner in the Epson ET-8550 printer.

An outstanding picture book.

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Gorgeously illustrated.

Nantucket Island, once a stronghold for whale hunters after the animals’ oil, used for interior lighting, lost that monopoly when Rockefeller’s Standard Oil started refining crude to make much cheaper kerosene, much to the relief of the whales. The island is only accessible by boat or light aircraft:

In the Atlantic.

Perhaps Robert Gambee’s outstanding book is Wall Street Christmas which beautifully illustrates the corridors of financial power but also supplements each image with details and trivia which make for a fascinating reading and viewing experience.

So when I discovered that Gambee had also published a volume of images taken on Nantucket Island I snapped one up. It’s long out of print but mint copies can be had for pennies.

Not only is the photography up to Gambee’s high standard, full of warm interiors in yellow paint and even warmer woods, there’s a wonderful hidden surprise to be found. You see every third image or so includes a 1950s vintage American automobile, the last era in which America made the world’s finest cars. And, as with the Wall Street book, each image is accompanied by fascinating text which fleshes out many historical facts.

Note the woody station wagon.

The homes are described in detail …. as are the wonderful vehicles. Robert Gambee’s ‘Nantucket’ is recommended without reservation to all photography, vintage car and early American history buffs.