Customer Reviews

Robert Doisneau: Palm Springs 1960

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

 

 

Maybe it's because I've lived in the Southwest for awhile and none of the stuff seen in these photos particularly surprised me, but a lot of what I see in the book I would call interesting curiosities, rather than fine photography. Though I'm endlessly interested in the history of the Southwest and appreciate the stylings of the time, many of the photos are are somewhat mundane and interesting solely because they are shots of that particular era.
If this wasn't Doisneau, most of these photographs would fit nicely in a generic 1960's journalistic or nostalgic picture book. They are pleasant and entertaining for the most part, particular the overhead shots and those involving the buildings of the time (which are pretty much the same buildings there today). So it's decent for what it is, but not much I would call "art"...though there are a couple shots that I enjoyed quite a lot.
As for the book...it's small. And the photos are small (some downright tiny). Photo reproduction is somewhat poor at times, with a fair amount of noise present. The overall quality is similar to what you might get from a print on demand service. But the authors do a good job of putting the photos together, and include some additional information at the end about his visits to America. they did make an effort to "fill out" the book with extra info. Not too keen on the cover design, particularly the font choice, which smacks of 1980 computer type.
Overall, interesting book, though kind of reminds me of a book you would see in the "quick gifts" section at the front of a bookstore. But it's nice to see another side of Doisneau's work. Not sure if it's a keeper, but worth reading through at least once.

Sigh...I wanted to love this book, I really did. My husband ordered it for me after a trip we took to Palm Springs this summer...I pestered him for weeks about it and eagerly anticipated it's arrival. I adore Palm Springs and loved the cover photo and expected a beautiful photo book showing a Palm Springs of a different time. Well, I suppose it does that, but the beautiful images are few and far between, and the rest seems like filler. I love the actual size of the book - it's small and squarish and fits in the hand nicely. But if I had seen the contents in advance, I would have passed on purchasing it.

Robert Doisneau: Palm Springs 1960, is an interesting collection of beautiful colored photographs taken by Robert Doisneau of rich millionaires and their wives holidaying in beautiful Palm Springs in the 1960s. This book is pre dominantly a picture book. My only dissapointment is that the pictures could have been a lot bigger, and pages are left blank, did they run out of photos or something. Robert was sent to Palm springs to photograph rich amercians for a magazine at the time, but what is interesting, the collection largely represents rich middle age americans been photgraphed, did young people at time not visit Palm Springs at all, or did Robert Doisaneau only focus on the rich middle age group. Interesting book but could have added more photos. Love the aerial photo of homes, every home has pool.

regardless of the subjects; the photography is first rate, but i agree with some of the other reviewers that there could have been less of the elderly residents. the mental image conjoured by thinking of palm springs at mid-century is one of beautiful people in beautiful settings, not a desert lobby for the hereafter.

Wonderful pictures with intimate insight to life in Palm Springs in 1960. My friend saw the exhibit in Paris and brought the book back with him. Loved it and bought a copy as a gift.