Amelia Earhart: Image and Icon (Hardcover)

~ Sue Butler (Author), Kristen Lubben (Editor), Amelia Earhart (Photographer)

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Product Description

Amelia Earhart remains nearly as famous today as she was in 1937, the year her plane disappeared over the Pacific. What roles did photography and the media play in constructing her iconography? In an era when aviators were glamorous symbols of adventure and modernity, she launched herself into instant celebrity by becoming the first woman to fly across the Atlantic, her celebrity aided considerably by the flight promoter and publisher George Palmer Putnam, whom she later married. For nearly 10 years, from the late 20s to the late 30s, newspapers and magazines profiled Earhart's record-breaking flights, her forays into clothing designs and her endorsements for everything from cigarettes to luggage. Earhart, in turn, capitalized on the fame that her accomplishments brought her to champion the advancement of women and other causes about which she was passionate. In her unconventional pants and leather jacket, she became the embodiment of the new roles that began to seem possible for American women in the 1920s and 30s. Through magazines, newspapers, original press photos and advertisements, Image and Icon, published on the occasion of the exhibition at New York's International Center of Photography, traces the construction of Earhart's iconic image and its continued resonance today.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 160 pages
• Publisher: Steidl/International Center of Photography (April 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 386521407X
• ISBN-13: 978-3865214072
• Product Dimensions: 12.4 x 9.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #186,247 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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7 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "At Last! An Important Tribute to the Icon, Amelia", October 28, 2007

By	Russell A. Rohde MD "Owl" (West Covina, California USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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"Amelia Earhart: Image and Icon", Editor(s) Kristen Lubben and Erin Barnett, ICP, Steidel, Germany, 2007. ISBN: 978-3-86521-407-2, HC 165 pages includes Biblio. 3 pages and 85 B/W photographs, maps and ephemera. 12 3/8" x 9 1/4".

Willis E. Hartshorn (Director, Intern. Center Photography) has 2 page Foreward to the preceeding AE Exhibition followed by three succinct essays with references by the writers (1) Kristen Lubben (Fame, Flight & the New Woman), 14 pages; (2) Susan Butler (Thirty-Nine Forever), 7 pages; and (3) Susan Ware (It's Hard Work Being a Popular Heroine), 16 pages.

Whether you've read one, two or a dozen books on Amelia Earhart (AE), one cannot fail to conceptualize the dynamic, focused intensity with which AE concentrated her attention -- imprima: Aviation, Social Work, and Women's Equality, such that from this matrix there arose a perfect blend that was to become America's Sweetheart with a legend lasting, undiminished, over three-quarters of a Century.

This book is special: it is dedicated to nuturing the understanding of societal perceptions that photo-journalism exhalts onto contemporary cultures by shaping the development, substance and subsistence of remembrances - in this case, the creation and adulation of recognizable contributions by one of its own citizens whose ingredients were close to perfect, importantly possession of humility and tireless devotion to the matters at hand. Each of the essayists focuses on a unique trait of AE: - symbolism, individuality, and true grit.

There are 85 photo-engravures, each exactingly reproduced, some printed in full-page format, and each carefully selected to capture the essence of Amelia and the peoples and places of her time accompanied by a thoughtfully numbered index with caption and designation of maker when known. The book is a long overdue work of Love, written to capture the creative power of photo-journalism and serving as a memorial embracing her friends, family, husband and, of course, Amelia who is "Forever 39". This is a great book for the coffee table and library.