History Books / L

The Road Not Taken by Arnaud Montagard investigates classic visual themes of Americana and touches upon some of the ideas laid down by the Beat poets. Leaving the fast paced city life behind and setting off on a journey into the American psyche. As an outsider who moved to New York some years ago,Arnaud's images are informed and inspired by the greats that precede him, but also announce his own unique style.

American artist Imogen Cunningham (1883-1976) enjoyed a long career as a photographer, creating an extensive and distinct oeuvre that underscored her unique vision, versatility, and ardent commitment to the medium. An early feminist and inspiration to future generations of men and women practitioners, Cunningham intensely engaged with Pictorialism and Modernism; genres of portraiture, landscape, the nude, still life, and street photography; and themes such as flora, dancers, music, hands, and the elderly.

Nothing had prepared me for my father's death. He was taken by a blood cancer before the family knew he was seriously ill. There was little time to talk, to prepare. We couldn't even say out last "SAYONARA" (goodbye). One day he was there and the next day- an empty place in the family. When he was gone the seemed to be no recovering. The house seemed full of sorrow and shock. In my room at night, expecting to hear my fathers voice, I heard only the weeping of my sister.

When Los Angeles based photographer and former Hollywood stuntwoman Hannah Kozak was nine years old, her mother left Hannah and her family after falling in love with another man. He turned out to be violent. From the age of nine to fourteen, Hannah witnessed him abuse her mother on the weekends she spent with them. In 1974, he beat Hannah's mother so badly she sustained permanent brain damage. After caring for her for six years, Hannah's father moved her mother into an assisted living facility at the age of forty-one, where she lived for thirty-five years. She has spent the last five years at a different, much improved facility. She is partially paralyzed on one side and cannot walk on her own, cloth or feed herself.

In Jenny Sampson's follow-up monograph to Skaters (Daylight, 2017) featuring her acclaimed collection of tintype portraits of male and female skateboarders, the American photographer, who is based in Berkeley, California, chose to focus exclusively on female skateboarders. Although historically a male-dominated sport, there have always been girls in the skateboarding landscape. By turning her lens on these fearless females in skate parks and at events all over California, Washington and Oregon, Sampson hopes Skater Girls (Daylight, September, 2020) will increase visibility and celebrate these girls and non-binary people, young and older, who have been breaking down this gender wall with their skater girl power.

In good times and bad, our best friends are there for support, therapy, and unconditional love. Especially now -- where would we be without our dogs? Although the so-called modernists of Palm Springs embrace the serenity of life in post-WWII America, the sometimes-harsh realities of contemporary life are impossible to ignore. These mid-twentieth-century reenactors are often transplants, enjoying the Palm Springs lifestyle with their dogs and friends as their chosen family.

This book offers a unique introduction to the Zen path through words, photos and poetry. More than a guidebook, it provides a space for reflection on our current situation and talks about Zen in relation to both photography and the origins of the coronavirus pandemic.

Award-winning photographer Dotan Saguy first met the Reis family, Mormons from Brazil, the day they arrived in Los Angeles in a converted yellow school bus they call home with their three children ages 10, 5 and 2. They had come to the United States two years prior to chase the American Dream. While they quickly found financial footing in the US and acquired all the material things they wanted, they were still not happy. Inspired by a YouTube video by a Brazilian artist who quit everything to travel and sell his art, they decided to explore an alternative lifestyle that would allow them to spend more time as a family and discover the world together through travel.

American photographer Jamie Johnson has devoted her over 20-year career to photographing children around the world. In 2014 she was invited to Ireland to document the Irish Travellers, a nomadic, ethnic minority that have lived on the margins of mainstream Irish society for centuries. She was introduced to a group of Travellers at the Ballinasloe Horse Fair and Festival, an annual event in County Galway where Travellers from Ireland and Europe come to set up camps, reunite with family and friends, and sell puppies and ponies. The children are left to run footloose and fancy free with dolls, animals, and candy cigarettes. While the Travellers don't usually like outsiders, Johnson's warmth, kindness and show of respect won them over and she was granted full access to photograph their lives and culture.