Along The Wisconsin Riverway (North Coast Books) [Hardcover]

Jill Metcoff (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 15, 1997 | Series: North Coast Books

The Lower Wisconsin River is one of the last long stretches of undammed waterway in the Midwest. This exquisite photo essay reveals the timelessness of the river and the land along its banks—primeval sloughs, towering bluffs with their sandstone terraces, wetlands awash in spring floods, and low prairies so rich and varied that they yield both cactus and cattails.
     Jill Metcoff has spent some twenty years photographing the ninety-three miles of the lower river from Prairie du Sac to the Mississippi with antique large- and medium-format cameras. These 104 photographs, lavishly printed and evocatively capturing the landscape in shades of black and white, are in the tradition of Eliot Porter and H. H. Bennett. They are accompanied throughout the book by “voices” of the region, including Aldo Leopold, August Derleth, John Muir, Frederick Jackson Turner, and Frank Lloyd Wright, as well as contemporary voices from public hearings on the future of the Lower Wisconsin riverway.
     This landscape—eons old and left untouched by the glaciers that ground much of Wisconsin’s ancient landforms into gravel—has escaped major development despite its location within 200 miles of more than twenty million people. But all that could change tomorrow. Metcoff’s work is a passionate appeal to view and value the riverway in all its variety and grandeur.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Jill Metcoff is a professional photographer specializing in the rural landscape. Her work has been exhibited in the Wisconsin State Capitol rotunda, at the Chicago Botanic Garden and Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, and at many galleries in the Midwest and has appeared in Wisconsin Trails magazine. She and her family divide their time between a home in Chicago, Illinois, and their hand-built cabin near the Wisconsin River between Spring Green and Sauk City, Wisconsin.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 184 pages
• Publisher: University of Wisconsin Press; First Edition edition (December 15, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0299141403
• ISBN-13: 978-0299141400
• Product Dimensions: 9.8 x 9.8 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,499,802 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars elegant observations, March 8, 2011

By 

D. Rosenthal "avid reader" (Wisconsin) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Along The Wisconsin Riverway (North Coast Books) (Hardcover)

Richly textured and nuanced images by Wisconsin photographer Jill Metcoff captures the beauty of this river in the unglaciated, rolling southwestern part of the state. Both intimate views and vast vistas with the perspective of someone who knows the area personally. Appealing to those who love b/w photography as well as those who love exploring accessible corners of our world.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good pictures.. not a lot of writing, April 5, 2005

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Along The Wisconsin Riverway (North Coast Books) (Hardcover)

She's a very good photographer, really wished the pictures could have been in color though. And not a lot of writing, but I guess thats okay. Pictures speak for themselves.