Berenice Abbott (Aperture Masters of Photography) (Hardcover)

by Berenice Abbott (Photographer), Julia Van Haaften (Contributor)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Berenice Abbott first established herself in commercial portraiture in Paris and later in New York. Besides creating masterful bodies of work on the changing face of New York, scientific phenomena, Route 1 and Maine, Abbott was an inventor of photographic equipment, a pioneer in the teaching of photographic techniques and the first person to champion the work of the turn-of-the-century French photographer Eugène Atget. Hardcover, 8 x 8 in./96 pgs

About the Author
Berenice Abbott was born in Ohio in 1898, and first established herself in commercial portraiture in Paris and later in New York. Besides creating masterful bodies of work of the changing face of New York, scientific phenomena, Route 1, and Maine, Abbott was an inventor of photographic equipment, a pioneer in the teaching of photographic techniques, and the first and most committed person to champion the work of the turn-of-the-century French photographer, EugŠne Atget. Berenice Abbott died in Maine in December 1991.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 96 pages
• Publisher: Aperture (June 15, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0893817511
• ISBN-13: 978-0893817510
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 8.3 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #966,996 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Quality Photography Book, May 15, 2009

By	Bayou Boy (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Berenice Abbott (Hardcover)

Very nicely done and bound. A good value considering all the images you have in two volumes made by this famous and most excellent photographer.

5.0 out of 5 stars Berenice Abbott: a complete life, June 30, 2009

By	Robin Benson - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Berenice Abbott (Hardcover)

I thought this was wonderful pictorial two volume treat revealing the best of Berenice Abbott's work. Like others I was aware of her remarkable coverage of New York architecture in the thirties but I didn't know that she also worked on a large assignment in 1954 photographing US Route 1 from Florida to Maine and between 1940 and 1961 developed techniques for doing scientific photos.

Book One starts with Hank O'Neal's succinct eleven page essay followed by: Portraits (1925 to 1985) with forty-two plates; The American Scene (1935 to 1983) with forty-six plates; and Science with twenty-three plates. I thought the portraits more interesting for the people she photographed, especially the ones taken in Paris during the twenties, rather than the images themselves. Turn over the pages and a string of cultural personalities pass before you: Peggy Guggenheim; James Joyce; Jean Cocteau; Andre Gide; Edna St. Vincent Millay or Sylvia Beach for instance. The American Scene selection I found much more fascination with the 1954 Route 1 photos very reminiscent of the FSA images from the thirties. The science selection by their nature don't easily fall into what might be called creative photography but I thought the interesting point here is that a female had successfully invaded what was essentially a male preserve of scientific photography and Abbott more or less did it on her own.

Book Two has 149 photos devoted to New York taken between 1930 and 1956 though there are only seven taken after 1938 so the bulk of them are from Abbott's monumental study capturing the changing face of New York buildings and everyday life. These photos are really quite stunning, the sort of images that you can pore over and still find something fresh each time you look.

The two books, needless to say, are wonderful to handle and look at. Each spread has a big photo on the right and a caption centered on the left and for many of the photos, in both books, there are observations from Abbott about the images. Excellent matt art paper and 175 screen deliver a beautiful package to sum up the life of a great American creative photographer.

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

1 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Quality Quality, November 17, 2008

By	Edwin J. Blair (New Orleans LA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Berenice Abbott (Hardcover)

I you like beautiful books I'd stongly recommend this fine two volume boxed set. We all know the quality of Abbott's work and it is displayed here with care and reverence. This is a special book. I was going to give it to my son who is a professional photographer, but selfisness has overcome me and its staying right here in my library. Edwin Blair