The Common Good: An Indiana Heritage Built with Taxes, Tithes, and Tuition [Paperback]

Photography by John Bower (Author), Text by John Bower and Lynn Bower (Author), Foreword by Lee H. Hamilton (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 17, 2010 | ISBN-10: 0974518662 | ISBN-13: 978-0974518664 | Edition: First

Haunting images of crumbling, one-room, brick school houses; abandoned, pre-consolidation high schools; forlorn country chapels; and vacant, big-city churches fill the 144 pages of this captivating book. Also included are dramatic, sepia-toned portraits of the somber remains of a county home; derelict, closed-up buildings at a Victorian Era veterans hospital; gloomy, barred jail cells; a bleak and eerie mental hospital; and much, much more. Though most are now in decay, these once-proud structures and objects built for our mutual benefit still radiate with transcendent meaning and purpose.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

John Bower s compelling black-and-white photographs have been shown in 25 solo exhibitions throughout the Hoosier state, and he is represented in the permanent collections of several prominent Indiana museums, including the Indiana State Museum. He has received three Individual Artist Grants from the Indiana Arts Commission and, in 2008, he was named an Indiana Artisan. His work has been featured in scores of Hoosier publications. The Common Good is the seventh Indiana photography book he and his artist wife Lynn have created.

Product Details

• Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: Studio Indiana; First edition (May 17, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0974518662
• ISBN-13: 978-0974518664
• Product Dimensions: 9.9 x 8.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,644,081 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Each black-and-white photography is succinctly captioned and represents the fruits of Bower's expeditions, July 9, 2010

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Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Common Good: An Indiana Heritage Built with Taxes, Tithes, and Tuition (Paperback)

The seventh published book of his extraordinary photography, "The Common Good: An Indiana Heritage Built with Taxes, Tithes, and Tuition" by John Bower is a kind of memoriam and celebration of Indiana history as reflected in its now abandoned and decaying structures, buildings that once were the heart of their community's social, cultural, spiritual, and economic life. Each black-and-white photography is succinctly captioned and represents the fruits of Bower's expeditions up and down the length and breadth of the state in search of these rapidly disappearing structures that represent the varied history of an illustrious past. A 144-page compendium offering a nostalgic reminder of yesteryears now gone by, "The Common Good" is an especially recommended addition to academic regional American History and American Photography reference collections, Indiana community libraries, and the personal reading lists for anyone with an interest in the photographic preservation of American history.