New York Changing

From Flickr, some rights reserved by Rares M. Dutu.

New York Changing: Revisiting Berenice Abbott’s New York is a collection of black and white photographs from Douglas Levere who, a fan of photographer Berenice Abbott, goes through New York and, in homage, re-photographs many of the same places. Abbott’s photography is  from the 1930s: she first started documenting the changes she saw in New York after living abroad for some time. Levere’s photography captures that New York, in many ways, has continued to change. He found many of the exact spots where Abbott stood, on the same day and time, and took the photos once more, with the same photographic equipment. In fact, Levere used a camera that had been originally created for Abbott, but she had never picked up from the store where she bought it. How serendipitous!

The black and white photographs from the 1930s New York, and even present-day (really, 90s and early 2000s), are fantastic to look at in their own right, but seeing them side by side in this book is a much more interesting artistic story to watch unfold about New York, that never-sleeping city. The photographs are all located within the five boroughs.

I highly recommend this book for anyone who likes city or historical photography, or for the person who just loves New York. While most people don’t like reading forewards or introductions, I must insist you read Levere’s introduction to his project if nothing else written in the book.

Carl Warner’s Food Landscapes

From Flickr

If you’re not hungry then you will be when you see these beautiful landscapes made of breads, cheeses, vegetables, and meats.

There are fruits too, as in the hot air balloon scene.

Warner is a professional photographer, and definitely a food artist, whose many landscapes have been used in advertising for different European countries. This book is a collection of some of his advertisements and work, plus a behind-the-scenes look at what went into the foodscape, from the actual ingredients like savoy cabbage to create a turbulent sea or a farmhouse made of Stilton cheese and crackers to the adult toys used to create waves and movement in the Cheesecape used in an ad for the Lake District Cheese Company.

This book is a photographic gem. Warner shows us that you can play with your food and make wonderful art from realistic landscapes to Tolkien-esque, these photographs are a delight. Generally, I don’t much care for reading a lot in photography books–I like the pretty pictures–but this book is worth the time to read. I wouldn’t have gotten to snigger at the use of vibrating toys to create waves if I hadn’t read this, or known about how even this photographic genius (anyone that can make landscape out of salami has got to be some sort of mad genius) had his moments of doubts and almost lost his desire and passion to continue.

Folks who like food, photographers, and the average bear who just likes to look at interesting or new things should check out this book. By the end, if not before, you may be wishing the food was lying around for you to grab some. I’ve a wicked craving for something made out of the ingredients that went into the Tuscan landscapes.

Check out this book today at TR 655.W367 2010

Visit Carl Warner’s website: http://www.carlwarner.com/