Capturing Light: Masterpieces of California Photography, 1850-2000 [Hardcover]

Drew Heath Johnson (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 2001

Hundeds of images, many never seen before, are used to illuminate the central role of California in the development of American photography. The story begins the daguerreotyes from the Gold Rush in 1850 and continues to the contemporary works of the landscape artist Ansel Adams and the postmodern visions of David Hockney. Also included are glamourous Hollywood photographs.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

This book accompanies an exhibit that opened in March 2001 at the Oakland Museum, where Johnson is curator of fine art photography. Arranged chronologically along with the photographs are essays by five well-known photohistorians and critics: Therese Thau Heyman (who built the photography collection at the Oakland Museum from the 1960s), Peter Palmquist, Naomi Rosenblum, Sally Stein, and Andy Grundberg. "Everything worth photographing is in California," observed Edward Weston, and most of the greatest American photographers made photographs here. Though resident photographers felt ignored by mainstream, East Coast aesthetic arbiters, even at the end of the 19th century they were producing work that made Stieglitz's circle seem conservative. This survey presents fine examples of every process and period, from the earliest daguerreotypes to the work of highly experimental contemporary photographers. Perhaps its greatest feature is its focus on less familiar practitioners and their work: early Chinese studios, Gustavus Fagerstein's Yosemite photographs of the 1880s, Willard Worden's turn-of-the-century San Francisco, Alma Lavenson's images of children and her garden, John Paul Edward's industrial views, and Catherine Wagner's documentation of American classrooms. Highly recommended for photography, California history, and American studies collections. Kathleen Collins, Bank of America Corporate Archives, San Francisco
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About the Author

Drew Heath Johnson is curator of fine art photography at the Oakland Museum of California, a world-renowned institution devoted to the art, history, and natural science of the Golden State.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 384 pages
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company (April 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0393049930
• ISBN-13: 978-0393049930
• Product Dimensions: 11.2 x 9.7 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,014,668 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Capturing the Light, January 12, 2012

By 

Anna Neale Taylor - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Capturing Light: Masterpieces of California Photography, 1850-2000 (Hardcover)

Bought for my daughter who is a photographer and lives in Calif. She was delighted with the gift. Good examples of how light influences photos.

5.0 out of 5 stars A so interesting book, March 19, 2006

By 

Antonio J. Bracons Carneiro "A Bracons" (ODIVELAS, Portugal) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Capturing Light: Masterpieces of California Photography, 1850-2000 (Hardcover)

A so interesting book: 200 photographys, the story of every one, the biography of photographs, and a text introduction for the different times. A good selection and organization.