Book Review: This Land Is Your Land: Across America by Air

Surface shadows

Aerial photos in black and white are past their prime these days, especially when photographers like Jim Wark and Alex MacLean have delivered remarkable color work. MacLean's book Over: The American Landscape at the Tipping Point is probably the gold standard for this aerial creativity but I've always had a soft spot for Marilyn Bridges book because of her different approach to earth photography. This kind of photography is usually done on bright sunny days to get the maximum clarity between the photographer and the ground. Ms Bridges gives her images a unique edge by going for shadows and this produces some quite remarkable photos of industry and the landscape.

The seventy-seven photos are split into four sections: Northeast; South; Midwest; West. They are a mixture of industrial, rural, agricultural, military and natural. There are plenty of aerial photo books of cities so there are few here, the Chrysler Building, Jefferson Memorial for example. Mostly the pictures show man-made America from a few hundred feet, people and their shadows are clearly visible.

The book's large page size, excellent semi-matt gloss and three hundred screen make the photos sparkle. An additional mark of quality is the duotone separation work from Thomas Palmer. Well worth getting if you want to see a different take on the surface from above.

This Land Is Your Land: Across America by Air is available at Amazon (US | CA | UK | DE | FR | IT | ES | JP)

This Land Is Your Land: Across America by Air

This Land Is Your Land: Across America by Air

This Land Is Your Land: Across America by Air

This Land Is Your Land: Across America by Air

This Land Is Your Land: Across America by Air

This Land Is Your Land: Across America by Air

This Land Is Your Land: Across America by Air

This Land Is Your Land: Across America by Air

This Land Is Your Land: Across America by Air

This Land Is Your Land: Across America by Air

This Land Is Your Land: Across America by Air

This Land Is Your Land: Across America by Air

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