Sign in with Facebook
Loading...
David Plowden: Vanishing Point: Fifty Years of Photography
This beautiful volume is both a tribute to and a celebration of the photographer who, more than anyone else, has given us a visual record of our mark on the land over the last half-century. David Plowden’s beautiful black-and-white images reveal his great respect for man’s ingenuity and honest work, documenting a disappearing landscape of industry, small towns, wonderful d...more
Hardcover, 280 pages
Published
October 17th 2007
by W. W. Norton & Company
(first published October 9th 2007)
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
This book is not yet featured on Listopia.
Add this book to your favorite list »
Community Reviews
(showing
1-30
of
34)
Sometimes disparagingly referred to as an "industrial" photographer, these beautiful but often bleak photos reminded me of Ansel Adams and Walker Evans. I loved the steam locomotives and steamships as well as the bridges and small town pictures. The steel mills were not my favorite but did make me think of our visit to the Sloss Furnaces in Birmingham AL, one of the few industrial sites to be a National Historic Lankmark. Next I plan to read Plowden's Small Town America and A Handful of Dust: Di...more
A fascinating book of photographs from the 1950s to 2005. The most interesting are of city scenes, small towns, grain elevators, etc., from the American midwest in the 1960s and early '70s, including some from New York State. It's curious, the assumption that we make of things being "worse" now, more litter, more dilapidation, more poverty(?) more pollution, etc., all of which were much worse in the recent past. The mundane are miraculous when photographs are done right.
A career retrospective of one of America's greatest photographers ... and hopefully not the last book by Plowden, though apparently he has put his camera away, unwilling to photograph anymore, though at least he's taken up computers, and is starting to digitize his negatives. This beautiful book covers most of the significant subjects of his career ... factories, steam engines, boats, small towns, rural areas, interesting characters. All black-and-white, all beautifully and poignantly shot, his...more
p. 331 - Making photographs is not a matter of equipment or technical prowess. Making photographs is about seeing. Ultimately, the inspiration comes from within. ... go out, look at the world, and make photographs.
This absolutely gorgeous book of photography far exceeded my expectations. Exploring the dying industries of steam engines and widespread train travel, boat ferry routes, abandoned coal mine towns, steel factories, and small town hardware stores, Plowden gives each shot the lingering eye of someone who knows a way of life is at an end. However, the photographs never veer into a romanticization of this past. Much of this work is dirty, and it is portrayed as such, but there is a beauty in the pat...more
Not the most inspiring but interesting.
Well, I didn't really *read* this book, but I did carefully turn each page. This guy photographs America as it is, as it was, as it has been, and as it might very well stay.
My favorite series: TRAINS.
Gorgeous black and whites. Intensely moving, yet intensely simple.
My favorite series: TRAINS.
Gorgeous black and whites. Intensely moving, yet intensely simple.
Some of the most amazing photos I've ever seen. I got a chance to see them up close at a gallery a few weeks ago. Outstanding. Plowden is a bit full of himself, but with pictures like these, I guess that's allowed.
David is a client and friend and this is an amazing culmination of his 50 years of photography. As he says, he's there with his camera right before the wrecking ball.
Great interview with this photographer on public radio's "The Story" in July 2008; I'm eager to see the photos.
Dec 06, 2012
Yinzadi
marked it as to-read
Aug 24, 2011
Camille
marked it as to-read
Aug 18, 2011
Tibor Gergely
marked it as to-read
Sep 13, 2010
Amber Haschenburger
added it
Apr 20, 2009
Julie Suzanne
marked it as to-read
Feb 03, 2009
Sam D.
marked it as to-read
There are no discussion topics on this book yet.
Be the first to start one »
![David Plowden: Vanishing Point [Signed and Numbered Limited Edition] (Hardcover)](http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348464747s/1654542.jpg)
David Plowden is the author of more than twenty photography books, including Bridges: The Spans of North America, Vanishing Point: Fifty Years of Photography, and Requiem for Steam. He lives in Winnetka, Illinois.
More about David Plowden...
Share This Book
No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »
