American Geography: Photographs of Land Use from 1840 to the Present
Drawing primarily from the vast permanent collection of photography at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, American Geography charts a visual history of land use in the United States.
Edited by Sandra S. Phillips and Sally Martin Katz
Texts by Beverly Dahlen, Hilary Green, Layli Long Soldier, Barry Lopez, Jenny Reardon, Richard White, and Richard B. Woodward
Hardcover
9.5 x 12 inches
372 pages / 345 images
ISBN: 9781942185796 — $60
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Link HERE to Jenny Reardon’s audiovisual experience, Nowhere: In Particular, that accompanies her essay.
From the earliest photographic records of human habitation to the latest aerial and digital imagery, from nearly uninhabited desert and isolated mountainous territories to suburban sprawl and densely populated cities, this compilation offers an increasingly nuanced perspective on the American landscape.
Divided by region, these photographs address ways in which different histories and traditions of land use have given rise to different cultural transitions: from the Midwestern prairies and agricultural traditions of the South, to the riverine systems in the Northeast, and the environmental challenges and riches of the far West.
American Geography provides a complex, thought-provoking survey featuring work from Robert Adams, Dawoud Bey, Barbara Bosworth, Debbie Fleming Caffery, William Eggleston, Mitch Epstein, Terry Evans, LaToya Ruby Frazier, Emmet Gowin, Lee Friedlander, Dorothea Lange, An-My Lê, Trevor Paglen, Wendy Red Star, Mark Ruwedel, Victoria Sambunaris, Stephen Shore, Alec Soth, and Carleton E. Watkins, among others.
Image credits:
Image 2: Roger Minick, Woman with Scarf at Inspiration Point, Yosemite National Park, CA, 1980, printed 2016, inkjet print, 19 3/8 x 21 3/4 inches (49.2 x 55.2 cm), San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Foto Forum purchase.
Image 5: Amani Willett, "Hiding Place," Cambridge, MA, from the series The Underground Railroad, 2010, inkjet print, 30 x 40 inches (76.2 x 101.6 cm), Collection of the artist.
Image 9: An-My Lê, Beauregard Monument, Louisiana, 2016, Pigmented inkjet print, 40 1/4 x 56 3/4 inches (102.2 x 144.1 cm), Collection of the artist.
All book images courtesy Radius Books
