Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #145097 in Books
• Published on: 2003-08-04
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 136 pages

Synopsis
The years between the end of World War II and the mid-1960s saw a marvellous flowering of railroad photography in America. Photographers vied with one another to record the passing scene. The most demanding technical efforts - often involving heroic set-ups of complex flash equipment - were devoted to capturing railroad operation at night. "Starlight on the Rails" is a contribution to a specific photographic history, a continuation of the story that fascinates so many readers of O. Winston Link's books. Here are many more styles, including experiments capturing the feeling of moving trains. This volume of photographs taken between the end of World War II and the mid-1960s offers a poetic glimpse of silent railroad stations, lonely motormen and the last great American steam engines.

Customer Reviews

beautiful book, splendid photographs but ....
There are two types of books concerned with railway photographs. The first consists of photographs of trains taken by enthusiasts, for enthusiasts. These generally have little aesthetic value, and consequently a low shelf life.

The second type is concerned with the context and atmosphere of the railway scene, and reaches its most supreme expression with scenes taken in rain, snow, fog, and after dark. This splendidly produced and presented (and most reasonably priced) book falls into this category most firmly. The range of images are stunning, as is the quality of reproduction. Particularly noteworthy are the inclusion of (far too few) photographs from Japan, to compliment the broadly (but not exclusively) American coverage.

My personal view is that some of the over descriptive captions could have been edited - the photographs speak for themselves quite easily. Also, Brouws' [] prose really does take up far too much space, I would have preferred that this was lost, in favour of having some of the postage stamp sized images reproduced at a decent size.

superbly produced, beautiful photographs
There are two types of books concerned with railway photographs. The first consists of photographs of trains taken by enthusiasts, for enthusiasts. These generally have little aesthetic value, and consequently a low shelf life.

The second type is concerned with the context and atmosphere of the railway scene, and reaches its most supreme expression with scenes taken in rain, snow, fog, and after dark. This splendidly produced and presented (and most reasonably priced) book falls into this category most firmly. The range of images are stunning, as is the quality of reproduction. Particularly noteworthy are the inclusion of (far too few) photographs from Japan, to compliment the broadly American coverage.

My personal view is that some of the over descriptive captions could have been edited - the photographs speak for themselves quite easily. Also, Brouws' turgid and portentous prose really does take up too much space, I would happily forsake this in favour of having some of the postage stamp sized images reproduced at a decent size.