Kodachrome: The American Invention of Our World, 1939-1959 | 
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| Authors: Els Rijper, Delano Greenidge Editions
Category: Book
Buy New: $61.88
New (3) Used (5) from $17.02
Avg. Customer Rating:  4 reviews
Sales Rank: 1635636
Format: Bargain Price
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 230
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2.9
Dimensions (in): 11.9 x 9.2 x 0.8
ASIN: B0007NLUYA
Publication Date: November 1, 2002
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
A popular history of 20th-century visual culture, Kodachrome: The American Invention of Our World 1939-1959 shows how the American point of view in full-color became an international standard. The book opens with a selection of rarely reproduced color images from the Depression through the early days of World War II. The bright, cosmopolitan atmosphere of the 1939 Worlds Fair in New York contrasts with a foreboding glimpse of Hitlers pre-war Berlin. Early photographs of the devastation in Warsaw and London are presented together with pictures of sharecroppers and homesteaders in the United States. Fashion plates and candid portraits of Satchmo, Frida Kahlo and Helena Rubenstein share the pages that follow with coverage of the War through the liberation of Buchenwald, the conference at Yalta, and the wreckage of Berlin and Hiroshima. The book continues through the late 40s and into the 50s with a wide-ranging assortment of images from the worlds of fashion, politics, sports, and popular culture. Among the personalities, places, and events pictured are Marilyn Monroe, Joe Di Maggio, Gene Autry, Elvis, Pablo Picasso, Eero Saarinens studio, shop windows in Manhattan, the Korean War, and the A-bomb tests at the Marshall Islands and Bikini Atoll.
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| Customer Reviews:
"In living color-in Kodachrome." November 20, 2007
This wonderful collection of color photographs reminds us that through the introduction of color we moved from the world of Black and White into the world of Color Photography;and that it took place in a relativly short period of only 20 years-1939 to 1959.
Though the change was somewhat imprecise,over a short period we came to think of color as opposed to black and white in virtually every medium where images were made This included everything from persnal snapshots,movies,newspapers,TV,the Comics,wedding pictures,...you name it ,color became the norm.
As a young lad,I along with everyone "saw" WWII as Black and White.Yes there was some color around,as this book points out in the years leading up to WWII, and pretty much into he ffties. We even thought that to view images in B&W was normal.Ihe wholesale change happened without us even noticing it.
This was brought home to me in 1959. I was attending a Hockey Game of the Montreal Canadians at Molson Stadium . In walked a man with his son who was about 8 years old. When they started down the aisle ,the boy exclaimed;"Look,Dad,it's in color!!" Yes even then,we were mostly watching sports,news and all, on B&W TV's.
It wasn't until much after WWII that we saw those images of Hitler,bombed out cities,Pearl Harbor,Buchenwald,Nurenberg,Patton,Roosevelt,Churchill,Stalin,Truman,and all the Soldiers,Sailors and Airmen and their weapons in reality through color.
It's hard to realize that the ability to make pictures like we see of the World's Fair in New York in 1939,was already here;but it took many years to become the norm.Another thing that comes through very clear is the expert skill of the photographers to use color at its advantage. Also clear is the high quality of Color almost from the beginning.
A wonderful tribute to the people who transformed our world of images from B&W to "Living Color-in Kodachrome".
Why did they take it away? March 20, 2006
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
This is a glorious volume that reproduces, beautifully, some of the most stunning images of the mid-twentieth century, captured on what is probably the finest colour medium ever produced. Look on these works, ye digital photographers, and despair!
Kodachrome, along with Technicolor, passed into the language as a byword for quality; sadly, it's now passed into history. I am grateful to the publishers of this book for producing a worthy epitaph.
Great book Great bargain.
 This was reel life October 23, 2004
13 out of 13 found this review helpful
An intriguing look at the recent past that most of us have only seen in black and white. Intriguing in that most of the exterior shots, especially the news photos still sort of look black and white, the overall colors that come across are grey and beige. This only makes the remaining photos, mostly interior studio work, seem dazzling. The cost of producing, in print media, regular color images was too expensive so color was basically left to advertising until the mid-fifties. It wasn't until the late seventies that color art photography was finally accepted.
The book certainly has some fascinating photos, not so much the political figures and celebrities of the time but images of everyday life. It is here that I thought the book was rather disappointing, of the 207 photos about a quarter are studio portraits of celebrities, just the sort of photos that were printed in color on magazine covers to be found on any newsstand. I would have preferred to have far fewer of these portraits.
If you are interested in color photos from the past have a look at Bound for Glory: America in Color 1939-43 with 175 images of daily life in America (and fortunately no celebrities). A book that covers Britain in color, from 1945 to 1952, is The S&J;Silver Lining Cross R by Robin Cross. Like 'Kodachrome' these two books offer a new look at the past.
***FOR AN INSIDE LOOK click 'customer images' under the cover.
Full color history in a time of black and white February 24, 2004
8 out of 9 found this review helpful
I have to say that this book is AMAZING! My wife wanted it and telling me the title all I thought about was that Paul Simon song. Upon getting the book, I could understand why she wanted it so badly. It is amazing to see images of Hitler and WWII from my history book except in full blown color. This is a great book for anyone out there who is interested in history, photography, or if you are interested in seeing history in a whole new light.
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