Architecture Transformed: A History of the Photography of Buildings from 1839 to the Present [Paperback]

Cervin Robinson (Author), Joel Herschman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 19, 1990 | ISBN-10: 0262680645 | ISBN-13: 978-0262680646

Honorable Mention, 1987 Golden Light Book Awards sponsored by the Maine Photographic Workshops.

This magnificently illustrated book documents a history of style in the photography of buildings and a history of the art and technology of photography itself. From photography's beginnings, the authors show, the camera has been used to make critical and expressive statements about the built world.

Cervin Robinson is one of America's bestknown architectural photographers. Joel Herschman is Associate Professor of Art History at Fordham University.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

This book traces the history of an important genre of photography: that of buildings since 1839. Beautifully illustrated and thoughtfully written by two experts, it will become a standard work. Only Richard Pare's Photography and Architecture: 1839-1939 (MIT Pr., 1982) covers similar ground; it is luxuriously produced but carries less explanatory text. Robinson, a world-renowned photographer, and Herschman, an art historian, consider their subject from so many angles that their work will interest a wide range of professionals and amateurs. Peter Kaufman, Suffolk Community Coll. Libs., Selden, N.Y.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"A volume whose photographs give aesthetic delight on almost every page and whose text is filled with information not readily available elsewhere, published in the large and sumptuous format it deserves."
—Brendan Gill, New Yorker



"Both exquisite and incisive, tracing not only the development of photography itself but the subtle ways in which photography has shaped our culture's attitudes toward buildings. Architecture Transformed is the rare largeformat book: the elegance of its design is matched by the significance of its text."
—Paul Goldberger, New York Times Book Review



"A large, gorgeous book, the kind to page through again and again."
—Boston Globe

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: The MIT Press (July 19, 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0262680645
• ISBN-13: 978-0262680646
• Product Dimensions: 12.5 x 11.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,569,998 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Insightful history, great images, somewhat crochety finish and unwieldy shape., August 31, 2011

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This review is from: Architecture Transformed: A History of the Photography of Buildings from 1839 to the Present (Hardcover)

A beautifully produced book with a great history of architectural photography. The essays are clearly written and well-reasoned, and Mr. Herschman's path through the beginnings of the field, connecting folks I wouldn't have immediately fingered as architectural photographers, was a great read. Unfortunately, as we approach the contemporary (or contemporary for the date of publication), Mr. Robinson gets rather grouchy-old-man on the new photographers, somehow finding William Clift's brilliant juxtaposition of a new international style mirrorglass skyscraper and the more classical/beaux arts courthouse it reflects and fragments a failure, as it does not particularly document for us what the courthouse looks like. There are also no plates in color, a great omission.

However, the book is beautifully printed otherwise, and (with those few crochety moments aside) very well written. A last minor gripe is the proportion of the volume. Large and nearly square, reading it would be greatly aided by a lectern; it sits in the hand with all the grace of a beached octopus.