PhotoBooks Illinois

These dazzling, poignant pages recreate the magical built environment that thrilled generations of Chicago residents and visitors alike before falling victim to the wrecking ball of "progress." Here are the grand residences and hotels, opulent theaters, legendary trains, and state-of-the-art office buildings and department stores-including the world's first skyscraper. Here too are the famous convention halls, parks, and racetracks of a great American city whose architectural treasures have been, and continue to be, recklessly squandered. Rare photographs and prints, many of them published here for the first time, document the transformative architectural achievements of such giants as Dankmar Adler, Louis Sullivan, John Wellburn Root, Daniel Burnham, William Holabird, and Frank Lloyd Wright. But this remarkable book is much more than a portfolio of now-vanished buildings; within its pages are evocative thumbnail sketches of scores of Chicago personalities, from the world-famous (Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Dreiser, Clarence Darrow, Ben Hecht, Jane Addams, Cyrus McCormick, George Pullman, and Gustavus Swift, to name just a few) to the locally notorious.

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An exquisite homage to Chicago's architecture and people, from the renowned documentary photographer and the acclaimed architectural historian. In a series of celebrated books, the eminent photographer and sociologist Camilo José Vergara has observed and recorded the evolution of America's inner cities for over twenty years, documenting the effects of time, commercialism, culture, and neglect on the built environment, with an aesthetic vision that has been hailed by the New York Times as "persuasive and moving." Here, in a unique collaboration with Timothy Samuelson, Chicago's leading architectural historian, Vergara probes the power and resonance of one of America's greatest cities. Unexpected Chicagoland includes over two hundred stunning color photographs, accompanied by a fascinating original narrative of the hidden history of Chicago's renowned architectural past. Vergara's photographs are a treasure trove of historically and visually interesting buildings and environments, most of them on the abandoned urban fringes. Included are examples of rarely-seen work by some of the greatest architects of the twentieth century, such as Louis Sullivan, Frank Lloyd Wright, and William Burley Griffin, as well as dazzling examples of Art Deco design. Unexpected Chicagoland presents an authentic and gritty view of the metropolis at a time when the public's understanding of all American cities has become increasingly sanitized and homogenized. The book itself, in a large format and exquisitely designed, is packaged to be a lasting visual treasure. Over 200 color photographs throughout.

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From the Author
This panoramic portfolio is a favorite of author and fans This is a favorite work of mine! I spent much of 1989 touring the lovely,lonely landscapes of rural Illinois. I continue to receive letters from owners of this book of panoramic landscapes!

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In 1996, photographer Bob Thall - walking to his car after completing some work in downtown Chicago - was stopped by something. "I noticed this strange view down an alley", he later wrote. "It wasn't the type of photograph I was doing that year, but the scene stopped me. I had one sheet of film left and thought, 'Oh, what the hell', and took the picture". Thall didn't print that picture for over a year. He had just published the highly praised "The Perfect City", an investigation of the sweeping changes in downtown Chicago over a 20-year period - and he was still working on "The New American VIllage", a look at the new edge city around O'Hare Airport that stands in such contrast to the urbanity of downtown. That single alley photograph, however, would stay with him, and eventually it would inspire the project that led to this, his third book: "City Spaces" is an exploration of the terrain of Chicago's alleys, where Thall finds remnants of the old city that he, and many other Chicagoans, once found so compelling. What these photographs transcribe are deep urban slits, afterthoughts to the gleaming modernist fronts of buildings. As Thall writes, "Investigating these spaces reminded me of my earlier sense of the city as a myterious landscape to explore. My history as a Chicagoan, my history as a photographer, the history of the city, and, in a small way, the history of photography -without any plan or anticipation, these photographs brought these histories together for me". "City Spaces" should be a welcome addition to those interested in fine art photography, architecture, Chicago, and the urban scene - and should reinforce Bob Thall's presence as a leading artist and spokesperson for the city he loves.

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When most people think of the Chicago metropolitan area they usually don't envision captivating natural beauty, but within a 55-mile radius of the city there are no less than five distinctive ecosystems, including tall-grass prairies, oak savannas, forests, lakeshores, and wetlands. Several of the natural communities preserved here are among the rarest in the world, including 181 species listed as endangered or threatened. These spectacular color photographs uncover Chicago's natural wonders, including vistas of shooting stars at Chiwaukee Prairie, blazing star and goldenrod at Gensburg-Markham Prairie, a luscious green canyon at Camp Sagawau, a pair of sandhill cranes feeding along the banks of the Fox River, a carpet of trilliums in Messenger Woods, fog rising over the Volo bog, and a fox family venturing out at dawn.

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Most people, specialists or not, typically think of New York City or Boston when considering the early development of parks and open spaces in American cities. Despite the size and importance of the Chicago park system, its history is less well known - even to many of those Chicagoans who regularly enjoy its facilities. "The City in a Garden", developed in association with the Chicago Park District itself, changes that: its 184 large-format pages, packed with 140 images and a closely integrated text, provide the first official documentary chronicles of Chicago's parks. Thirty-one of the city's finest spaces are profiled, using photographs - both contemporary and historical - along with detailed vignettes and captions to trace their development. The visual treat of the book's fine-art duotones combines with its emphasis on narrative history to create a rich and magnificent exploration of a city's most beautiful sites.

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