For this installment of In the Stacks we visit the vast online archive of the Los Angeles Public Library. Enjoy!A couple of Bookmobiles: Decorated Los Angeles Public Library Bookmobile, 1974. Photo by Joe FriezerBookmobile at Stonehurst School, 1957. Photo by Milton Martinez A few for the political crowd: Books for freedom, 1964. Photo by George Brich American Nazi party pickets bookshop, 1962Books for a Strong America" a right leaning display in a Northridge Hughes Market. 1962Some general book treats: Caption for this one: "Wrapped in Thought. Four-year-old Philip Ross finds "ABC Easter Bunny" more interesting than his guns and spurs, 1960 Mark Twain Branch book march and rally, 1971 Books and...
The Library Photos of Massimo Listri Grace the Morgan
To coincide with the recently completed renovation of its interior The Morgan Library is hosting an exhibit of the library photographs of Massimo Listri.The monster photographs, each about five feet in width and four feet in height, depict the grand libraries of Europe which served as an inspiration for Charles Follen McKim, the architect commissioned by Pierpont Morgan to build the library in 1902.Some of the libraries represented include:The Malatestiana Library in Cesena, Italy, which was completed in 1454, The St. Gall Monastery Library in Switzerland, Trinity College Library at the University of Dublin, The Laurentian Library in Florence, which was designed by Michelangelo,and...
Pictures of Poets
Joseph BrodskyThe Rare Book & Manuscript Library of the University of Pennsylvania has digitized and made available over 2,000 photographs of poets that originally appeared in the pages of the American Poetry Review between 1971-1998.Anne SextonThough many poets pictured have faded a bit from view and are worthy of a 'Where Are They Now' segment the archive is still packed with a plethora of "A" list poets of the last quarter-century.Hayden CarruthThere are also multiple shots of a number of poets, like Hayden Carruth above, that offers one a peek at poets at different stages of their career. Carolyn ForcheClearly...
Masahisa Fukase’s ‘Ravens’ chosen Best Photography Book of the last 25 years
The British Journal of Photography asked five experts to pick their top five photography books of the last quarter-century. Masahisa Fukase's Karasu (Ravens), first published in 1986 by Sokyu-sha, was the winner. The photographs for this "obscure masterpiece" were taken during train journeys back to his birthplace in northern Japan following his divorce from his wife. Most were taken through the train's window.Many see the dark, ominous imagery as an "allegorical critique of modern industrialised society" as well as a visual meditation on mourning. The first American edition of Karasu was published by Bedford Arts in 1991, under the title Solitude...
The Camera Work of Allen Ginsberg
W. S. Burroughs at rest in the side-yard of his house..., 1991, gelatin silver print, © Copyright 2010 The Allen Ginsberg LLC. All rights reserved. A new exhibition of the photographs of Allen Ginsberg opened this week at the National Gallery of Art. The exhibit, titled Beat Memories: The Photographs of Allen Ginsberg, features 79 black-and-white portraits. Most were donated to the National Gallery by Gary S. Davis who acquired, via the poet's estate, one print of every photograph in Ginsberg's possession at the time of his death. Most of the usual suspects of the Beat Generation are represented.The exhibition is divided...