- Hardcover: 240 pages
- Publisher: Cityfiles Press (15 Aug 2008)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 097854501X
- ISBN-13: 978-0978545017
- Product Dimensions: 24.4 x 24.4 x 2.5 cm
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,697,045 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Review
"Ever since 1888 and the advent of George Eastman's first Kodak, Americans have been avidly taking pictures to record their lives, creating an enormous, rarely tapped archive. Williams, Richard Cahan, and Nicholas Osborn spent 10 years looking at more than a million snapshots, ultimately choosing 350, each with a "unique ability to help tell the American story." After tracking down the who, what, where, and when of each striking, amusing, or haunting image, the authors organized these everyday astonishments thematically and made every page spread a study in unexpected parallels and contrasts. Beginning with a lovely series taken from "a surrey with the fringe on top" and moving forward into the atomic age, they present scenes of now vanishing wilderness and rural life, people at work and play, and calamities ranging from an eviction to a flood, tornado, dust storm, Ku Klux Klan parade, and war. Assembled with an eye for vitality, irony, and revelation, this splendid American photo album vividly chronicles our progress and tragedies, ingenuity and spirit."
--Donna Seaman, Booklist --Booklist, November 15, 2008
--Donna Seaman, Booklist --Booklist, November 15, 2008
Review
"This photography collection takes us back to the advent of the snapshot in the 1880s and moves on through nearly a century of casual photography. Here's a wonderful combination of technology and nostalgia, of intense connection to the moment and extension through the years. You won't recognize any of the individuals in the snapshots, but you will know them -- lovers and shopkeepers, city and country folk, the meek and the proud -- all in candid display. Give people this book, and you give them the gift of seeing back through time -- and into themselves."
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
5.0 out of 5 stars (2 customer reviews)
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An Excellent Addition To Your Photobook Collection, 30 Nov 2008
By D. Bass - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Who We Were: A Snapshot History of America (Hardcover)
As a collector of vintage snapshots, I am always looking for books that contain a variety of snapshot examples along with detailed descriptions and quality reproductions. This book makes the grade in that respect. The photo illustrations are very high quality and the author does a great job providing the right amount of detail about each of the snapshots in the captions. Well organized throughout. One of my favorite books on this subject. Highly recommended.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
TIME FRAME, 28 Oct 2009
By Stephen Hashioka - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Who We Were: A Snapshot History of America (Hardcover)
Given the enormous number of black and white snapshots archived in family and institutional collections, the author has done an admirable job of selecting representative images of America in the twentieth century. When one considers that there was often a significant lapse in time between exposure and development, opening the drugstore envelope was often a pleasant surprise, similar to receiving a gift package. Digital photography with its instant feedback combined with time and date stamp eliminates the anticipation and prospect of discovery.
'Who We Were' reminds us of a time when instant gratification was non-existent, when each photo was a potential family keepsake. Since we will never live those times again, we are fortunate to have this collection as a reminder.
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