Walking the High Line [Hardcover]

Joel Sternfeld (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 2, 2002

This is the first book of Sternfeld's largely unseen early colour photographs. In 1969 Sternfeld began working with a 35 mm camera and Kodachrome film, and First Pictures contains works from this time until 1980. Here Sternfeld develops traits that appear in his mature work: irony, a politicised view of America, concern for the social condition. But there are also pictures that bear little relation to his later work: colour arrangements that parallel those of Eggleston, as well as street photography which Sternfeld ceased making in 1976. The photographs in First Pictures were made at a time when colour photography was struggling to assert itself against the authoritative black and white tradition, making this book a revelation both in Sternfeld's oeuvre and in the history of contemporary photography.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

With a large-format camera and an eye for the subtle light of cloudy days, photographer Sternfeld (Stranger Passing) documents the High Line, an elevated railway running along the western edge of Manhattan for just over a mile. The tracks, which have been derelict for more than 20 years, once carried freight to the warehouses and shipping yards along the Hudson. Though the urban landscape is evident billboards, apartment buildings, and warehouses surround the tracks in each shot Sternfeld's focus is on the wildness that now overtakes the High Line, his angles emphasizing the road before him as it sprouts bristling weeds and scrawny trees, or softens into patches of clover, buttercups, and grape hyacinths. Taken from May 2000 to July 2001, the photographs capture the seasonal changes of this surprisingly undisturbed space. Two essays follow the 24 color plates; Harvard history and landscape professor John Stilgoe obliquely considers the idea of discovery, while New Yorker writer Adam Gopnik offers a brief history of the elevated railway, with comments by Sternfeld. This slender book is an important addition to comprehensive New York City libraries and is recommended for large photography and urban planning collections. Carolyn Kuebler, "Library Journal"
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About the Author

Joel Sternfeld's previous publications include American Prospects, On this Site, and Stranger Passing. He is the recipient of two Guggenheim fellowships and a Prix de Rome.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 72 pages
• Publisher: Steidl (March 2, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 388243726X
• ISBN-13: 978-3882437263
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 10.7 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #815,092 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Slightly off the beaten tracks, February 3, 2004

By 

Robin Benson - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Walking the High Line (Hardcover)

Joel Sternfeld had the right idea when he took photos of Manhattan's High Line in 2000. These are great images of the abandoned railroad and they work so well because you don't really realise that the track is way above street level and now overgrown with all manner of greenery. These photos perhaps give an eerie impression of what Manhattan might look like some months after all the people left.

Apart from the excellent twenty-four photos I found this book very disappointing, there is the usual annoyance of having all the captions on one page at the back of the book. Plenty of room is available to center them under each photo. There are two essays: one by John Stilgoe I found very tedious, Adam Gopnick's was more interesting as it directly concerned the High Line, its history and possible future. Both essays take up twenty-two pages, almost as much as the photo section and this after all is a photo book.

BTW you can see all of the photos on the High Line web site, had I known that I would not have bought the book!

***FOR AN INSIDE LOOK click 'customer images' under the cover.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic book, November 12, 2009

By 

Dalton (Brooklyn, NY United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Walking the High Line (Hardcover)

This is a great book of photographs. Beautifully made and printed, and Joel Sternfeld truly is one of the best art photographers working today. The book is small, with only 24 images, but each one is worth savoring and going back to over and over again. The new version has information about the construction of the park that wasn't in the previous edition. I don't mind that the image titles are at the back of the book (a complaint of an earlier review) because it allows me to simply focus on the the images.

4.0 out of 5 stars A walk on the wildside - and that was just overcoming bureaucracy, January 27, 2012

By 

E. Justice "Bootylicious" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Walking the High Line (Hardcover)

Just steps away from the foodie heaven of Chelsea Market on the tourist trail in Manhattan is the delightful urban pathway along a disused railway line. Even more interesting is the dedicated people who made the line come to life and the sheer determination to raise funds and install bird boxes and urban gardners to tend the footpath in the sky. It is perfect for people with kids or wheelchairs as there are lifts to access the raised areas because it mattered to the people who designed and created it. The book captured the way it was made possible for any community dreamers like me and after you read it you must go and walk it. It is the best.