Amazon.com: Starlight on the Rails (9780810941670): Jeff Brouws, Richard Steinheimer, Ed Delvers: Books

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Starlight on the Rails [Hardcover]

Jeff Brouws (Author), Richard Steinheimer (Author), Ed Delvers (Author)
4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)


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Book Description

November 1, 2000
The years between the end of World War II and the mid-1960s saw a flowering of railroad photography in America. Photographers vied with one another to find archetypal railroad scenes that they recorded with novelistic precision. The most demanding technical efforts, however, were devoted to capturing the railroads at night. Here, in a stylish and moving book, are the last great steam engines, lonely motormen, silent stations, and more, all evoking the spirit of night railroading-as quintessentially American as cool jazz-in its glory days.

Starlight on the Rails celebrates the work of mostly unsung artists in stirring duotone photographs. The authors of this book and their 20-odd fellows-all highly skilled masters of lighting and composition-created visual poetry that memorializes an aspect of American life that will long be fondly remembered.

JEFF BROUWS grew up in the San Francisco Bay area, simultaneously discovering trains, photography, and the writing of Jack Kerouac at the age of 13. His photographs have appeared in several books, including Highway: America's Endless Dream. He now lives with his wife in Red Hook, New York.

EDWARD DELVERS traveled the country photographing trains through the late 1960s, then studied photographic science at MIT under the tutelage of Dr. Harold Edgerton. He has since worked in fields from aviation to satellite communications. He lives in Techachapi, California.

RICHARD STEINHEIMER, whom many consider the dean of American railroad photographers, has published numerous articles in Trains magazine and several books. He lives in Sacramento, California.

90 photographs in duotone, 6 photographs in full color, 113/8 x 105/8"



Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Jeff Brouws grew up around the San Francisco Bay area, simultaneously discovering trains, photography, and the writings of Jack Kerouac (who was a brakeman for the Southern Pacific in the early 1950s) at the age of thirteen. His photographic work has been published in several books, including Railroading West (1976) and Highway: America's Endless Dream (1997). Edward Delvers grew up in Japan at a time when steam was still king. After his family returned to the United States, he traveled the country photographing trains through the late 1960s, then studied photographic science at MIT under the tutelage of Dr. Harold Edgerton. He has made a career in numerous fields, ranging from energy research to satellite communications to aviation, meanwhile maintaining photography as a passion. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

  • Hardcover: 144 pages
  • Publisher: Harry N. Abrams; First Edition edition (November 1, 2000)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0810941678
  • ISBN-13: 978-0810941670
  • Product Dimensions: 11.7 x 10.5 x 1 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 3.9 pounds
  • Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,828,806 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

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Average Customer Review
4.5 out of 5 stars (2 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars superbly produced, beautiful photographs, November 29, 2000
By A Customer
This review is from: Starlight on the Rails (Hardcover)
There are two types of books concerned with railway photographs. The first consists of photographs of trains taken by enthusiasts, for enthusiasts. These generally have little aesthetic value, and consequently a low shelf life.

The second type is concerned with the context and atmosphere of the railway scene, and reaches its most supreme expression with scenes taken in rain, snow, fog, and after dark. This splendidly produced and presented (and most reasonably priced) book falls into this category most firmly. The range of images are stunning, as is the quality of reproduction. Particularly noteworthy are the inclusion of (far too few) photographs from Japan, to compliment the broadly American coverage.

My personal view is that some of the over descriptive captions could have been edited - the photographs speak for themselves quite easily. Also, Brouws' turgid and portentous prose really does take up too much space, I would happily forsake this in favour of having some of the postage stamp sized images reproduced at a decent size.

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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Night-time motives, May 17, 2009
This review is from: Starlight On the Rails (Hardcover)

I'm surprised that there haven't been more reviews of this beautiful book, especially as the paperback edition has been available for some time and it can be picked up quite cheaply if you look around the net. The comments by `A customer' are spot on when referring to the majority of transport books always looking rather bland because they are produced for enthusiasts rather than readers who want something more challenging.

Brouws and Delvers have edited what is probably the best book about night-time railroading after Winston Link's extraordinary `Steam steel & stars' and oddly there are no Link photos in Starlight, though they are well known I would have expected to see at least one included.

The ninety duotones (in 175 screen) present a fascinating cross-section of night action concentrating on gritty freights (steamers and diesel) rather than passengers' trains. The six chapters start at sunset and follow the hours through to daybreak with the majority of photos taken in the US with one color exception taken at Tokyo Central Station in 1982. Fortunately the photos are not static on the page but show how railroads work at night with interesting captions and there several atmosphere shots to help the flow of images over the pages.

Overall, a perfect book of railroad photos. You can't really go wrong when creative folk like Boyd, Benson (no relation) Gruber, Shaughnessy or Steinheimer (who wrote the book's excellent introduction) are included and in particular Mel Patrick who has several included which are my favorites.

***SEE SOME INSIDE PAGES by clicking 'customer images' under the cover.
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