American Roadside Artifacts
Photographs by Jeff Brouws
Chronicle Books, 2003
Comments: I'm a great enthusiast of photographic typologies. The style of photographing similar objects and displaying them as thematic collections is fairly common, but as with any creative endeavor some examples are more artistic than others. I consider the work of Bernd and Hilla Becher to be among the best in this genre, but there are several other masterful photographers who have achieved a measure of recognition with this approach.
This book by photographer Jeff Brouws is a wonderful example of the style, faithful in every sense to the typologies concept. The overarching theme is scenes found through travel along roadways, but within that there are sub-sets such as tacky houses, farm forms, freight cars, trailers, signs, partially painted pickup trucks, and other subjects. One of my favorites is a black and white set of abandoned gas stations. The photographer works in both color and black and white, using different cameras and formats, depending on the subject. Companion text from various other contributors accompanies each section to add some context to thinking about the sets, but the images themselves are the real treasure.
Brouws must have traveled many highway miles to have captured so many roadside images, but the effort was certainly worth it. The body of work is technically well executed and visually engaging. I very much enjoy occasionally browsing through this book for inspiration with my own photography and I hope to find other work by the same photographer in the future.
Copy Notes: Hardback, first edition
Photographs by Jeff Brouws
Chronicle Books, 2003
Comments: I'm a great enthusiast of photographic typologies. The style of photographing similar objects and displaying them as thematic collections is fairly common, but as with any creative endeavor some examples are more artistic than others. I consider the work of Bernd and Hilla Becher to be among the best in this genre, but there are several other masterful photographers who have achieved a measure of recognition with this approach.
This book by photographer Jeff Brouws is a wonderful example of the style, faithful in every sense to the typologies concept. The overarching theme is scenes found through travel along roadways, but within that there are sub-sets such as tacky houses, farm forms, freight cars, trailers, signs, partially painted pickup trucks, and other subjects. One of my favorites is a black and white set of abandoned gas stations. The photographer works in both color and black and white, using different cameras and formats, depending on the subject. Companion text from various other contributors accompanies each section to add some context to thinking about the sets, but the images themselves are the real treasure.
Brouws must have traveled many highway miles to have captured so many roadside images, but the effort was certainly worth it. The body of work is technically well executed and visually engaging. I very much enjoy occasionally browsing through this book for inspiration with my own photography and I hope to find other work by the same photographer in the future.
Copy Notes: Hardback, first edition
