Customer Reviews

Childhood Streets

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

If you buy this book you're certainly looking for such books - so the pure mass of photographs of children may not make you as uncomfortable as me in the first moment. It is a kind of document of a time, when children could play safely on streets, bath naked on a rivers bank, roam through streets as if they were a continuation of there flats. I don't know if Mr. Ovenden have had more and other things photographed, *this* is a rest of what was the result of his strolls through London in his youth, and so, while you can clearly see that he have had an artist's eye so early, it is also sometimes the limitation of the camera, what makes the picture perfect (while technical imperfect). Take this book if you wish to know something about this time (end fithies/early sixties) and how children have lived, no other book I know has this very special focus (and is obtainable).

This book is a beautiful collection of older black-and-white photos of children. Most of the photos were created on the streets and they show us how life looked like some 50 years ago, especially for children. Graham Ovenden made these photographs as a teenager and that shows that even back than he had a talent for making art. I am very blessed to own this beautiful collection and I would recommend this book to anyone interested in historic photography and in the subject of children in the photography which makes this book even more kind, unique and beautiful. And for the end, thank you Graham for creating something so pretty that will last forever!

Simply put, this is a book of photographs of children on the street. They play together, sit and watch people go by, shop, skinny dip in the local park, and mingle with adults. The photographs are purely black & white. They are large, almost full page photos showing various children in a number of everyday children's activities. The photos were all made in the late 1950's and early 1960's.
With the exception of one photograph, all the rest are clear and in fine detail. And what I really like about the book is that each photograph is on an individual page by itself. I'm giving this book 4 stars for the simple reason of the one photograph which is difficult to view, otherwise, it is a splendid book.