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Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
More a scholarly tome than the usual Ansel Adams, like coffee-table fixture, this study sets its dual focus on a new pictorial medium and the new distinctively American region of the 19th century. As the title suggests, it is no more about how the West really was than it is a simple compendium of lovely images. Sandweiss, a professor of history and American Studies at Amherst College, attempts a difficult balance of art and history, where photographs and social studies complement each other rather than compete for intellectual space. Time is on Sandweiss's side: as she shows, America's frontier narrative and the new art form did more or less rise up together. The book stakes its labors on the assumption that, even if the confluence is sheer chance, the influence can't help running both ways: photos helped make the West, and the art form was in turn shaped by the new needs of a newly shaped nation. Sandweiss is richly informative and thoughtful in recounting and reconsidering the times, no surprise for an editor of the excellent Oxford History of the American West. Her account of the cultural impact of the Spanish-American War is probing; the Native American history here is inclusive, surprising and subtle. It would be quite difficult to handle the photography with equal Elan, especially given the author's commitment to the significance of public photographs, in large part, fairly repetitive portraiture and Sandweiss's readings of pictures are rarely insightful, if sometimes usefully direct. As a result, the careful and thoughtful book will appeal less to students of photography than to those interested in the place and time, and how our image of it came together.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Review
"Scholarly and enlightening." -- Betsy Friauf, Fort Worth (TX) Star-Telegram
. . . Sandweiss has written splendidly about the American West and an American craft and how the two evolved together. -- Elliot West, University of Arkansas
. . . [A] fascinating glimpse into the way photography helped shape our understanding of the American West. . . -- David L. Boren, President of the University of Oklahoma and former United States Senator
. . . [R]emarkable, compelling. . . No one writes about western photography with more grace and skill than Martha Sandweiss. -- James P. Ronda, Barnard Professor of Western American History, University of Tulsa
. . . [S]tunning. . . [A] major new history of photography that also provides. . . a richer, more insightful history of. . . the American West. -- Howard R. Lamar, Yale University
A sophisticated and engaging exploration of photography and the West...A really handsome work. -- James McWilliams, Austin (TX) Chronicle
An engrossing account. . . [of] the visual imagery of the West. . . A pioneering study and a readable story. -- Robert M. Utley, author of Lone Star Legend: The First Century of Texas Rangers
Engaging, insightful, . . . impressive. . . [T]his landmark book expands. . . our understanding of the American West and its visual representation. . . [A] superb accomplishment. -- Clyde A. Milner II, Executive Editor, Western Historical Quarterly
Lucidly written and extremely readable…This invaluable book…tackles the relatively new field of photographically illustrated books…Engaging. -- (Melissa Renn, In the Loupe)
Panoramic in its. . . . scope, narrative sequencing, and clarity of vision. . . . [A] truly remarkable book, written with. . . . grace. . . . [S]uperbly illustrated. . . . -- Michael Kammen, Reviews in American History
See all Editorial Reviews
More a scholarly tome than the usual Ansel Adams, like coffee-table fixture, this study sets its dual focus on a new pictorial medium and the new distinctively American region of the 19th century. As the title suggests, it is no more about how the West really was than it is a simple compendium of lovely images. Sandweiss, a professor of history and American Studies at Amherst College, attempts a difficult balance of art and history, where photographs and social studies complement each other rather than compete for intellectual space. Time is on Sandweiss's side: as she shows, America's frontier narrative and the new art form did more or less rise up together. The book stakes its labors on the assumption that, even if the confluence is sheer chance, the influence can't help running both ways: photos helped make the West, and the art form was in turn shaped by the new needs of a newly shaped nation. Sandweiss is richly informative and thoughtful in recounting and reconsidering the times, no surprise for an editor of the excellent Oxford History of the American West. Her account of the cultural impact of the Spanish-American War is probing; the Native American history here is inclusive, surprising and subtle. It would be quite difficult to handle the photography with equal Elan, especially given the author's commitment to the significance of public photographs, in large part, fairly repetitive portraiture and Sandweiss's readings of pictures are rarely insightful, if sometimes usefully direct. As a result, the careful and thoughtful book will appeal less to students of photography than to those interested in the place and time, and how our image of it came together.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Review
"Scholarly and enlightening." -- Betsy Friauf, Fort Worth (TX) Star-Telegram
. . . Sandweiss has written splendidly about the American West and an American craft and how the two evolved together. -- Elliot West, University of Arkansas
. . . [A] fascinating glimpse into the way photography helped shape our understanding of the American West. . . -- David L. Boren, President of the University of Oklahoma and former United States Senator
. . . [R]emarkable, compelling. . . No one writes about western photography with more grace and skill than Martha Sandweiss. -- James P. Ronda, Barnard Professor of Western American History, University of Tulsa
. . . [S]tunning. . . [A] major new history of photography that also provides. . . a richer, more insightful history of. . . the American West. -- Howard R. Lamar, Yale University
A sophisticated and engaging exploration of photography and the West...A really handsome work. -- James McWilliams, Austin (TX) Chronicle
An engrossing account. . . [of] the visual imagery of the West. . . A pioneering study and a readable story. -- Robert M. Utley, author of Lone Star Legend: The First Century of Texas Rangers
Engaging, insightful, . . . impressive. . . [T]his landmark book expands. . . our understanding of the American West and its visual representation. . . [A] superb accomplishment. -- Clyde A. Milner II, Executive Editor, Western Historical Quarterly
Lucidly written and extremely readable…This invaluable book…tackles the relatively new field of photographically illustrated books…Engaging. -- (Melissa Renn, In the Loupe)
Panoramic in its. . . . scope, narrative sequencing, and clarity of vision. . . . [A] truly remarkable book, written with. . . . grace. . . . [S]uperbly illustrated. . . . -- Michael Kammen, Reviews in American History
See all Editorial Reviews
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Inside This Book
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First Sentence:
This is a story about photography and the American West, a new medium and a new place that came of age together in the nineteenth century. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
daguerrean plates, daguerrean views, daguerrean images, war daguerreotypes, daguerreotype views, albumen silver print, topographic drawings, western photographs, daguerreotype camera, daguerreotype plates, panorama painters, painted panoramas, unidentified photographer, daguerreotype process, photographic views, vanishing race, moving paintings, photomechanical reproductions, photographic sources, western photographers, western exploration, moving panorama, landscape photographs, field sketches, engraved illustrations Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
United States, New York, Manuscript Library, San Francisco, Beinecke Rare Book, American Indian, Yale Collection of Western Americana, Colorado River, North American, Salt Lake City, Mississippi River, Alexander Gardner, American West, Mexican War, Mexican-American War, Union Pacific, Grand Canyon, Indian Gallery, Special Collections, New Mexico, New Orleans, Rocky Mountain, Sitting Bull, Central Pacific, Manifest Destiny New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Front Flap | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Flap | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
This is a story about photography and the American West, a new medium and a new place that came of age together in the nineteenth century. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
daguerrean plates, daguerrean views, daguerrean images, war daguerreotypes, daguerreotype views, albumen silver print, topographic drawings, western photographs, daguerreotype camera, daguerreotype plates, panorama painters, painted panoramas, unidentified photographer, daguerreotype process, photographic views, vanishing race, moving paintings, photomechanical reproductions, photographic sources, western photographers, western exploration, moving panorama, landscape photographs, field sketches, engraved illustrations Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
United States, New York, Manuscript Library, San Francisco, Beinecke Rare Book, American Indian, Yale Collection of Western Americana, Colorado River, North American, Salt Lake City, Mississippi River, Alexander Gardner, American West, Mexican War, Mexican-American War, Union Pacific, Grand Canyon, Indian Gallery, Special Collections, New Mexico, New Orleans, Rocky Mountain, Sitting Bull, Central Pacific, Manifest Destiny New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Front Flap | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Flap | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
5
books
cite this book:
- The War Film (Rutgers Depth of Field Series) by Robert Eberwein in Front Matter, and Back Matter
- Lasting Light: 125 Years of Grand Canyon Photography by Stephen Trimble on page 7, and Back Matter
- Alanis Obomsawin: The Vision of a Native Filmmaker (American Indian Lives) by Randolph Lewis in Back Matter
- How New York Became American, 1890--1924 by Angela M. Blake in Back Matter
- The Utes Must Go!: American Expansion and the Removal of a People by Peter Decker in Back Matter
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4% buy In Focus: Carleton Watkins: Photographs from the J. Paul Getty Museum $17.50 |
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