E. O. Hoppé's Amerika: Modernist Photographs from the 1920s

I really didn't know what to expect when I ordered this book but now having looked through it several times I can safely say it is a quite stunning title. The epitome of what a photo book should be. Like most people I had never heard of Hoppe despite his fame in the early years of the last century. He was certainly well known in Europe and had several books published, the 1930 `German Industry' probably displayed his most creative European work. Amerika contains photos from several trips around the country during the twenties and you can clearly see Hoppe's modernist approach in many of the industrial and architectural images. I thought the range of photos in the book quite impressive: gritty portraits; city street scenes; factories; bridges, landscapes; mountains; country life and more. The strength of America is clearly shown in the six powerful photos of the Ford Factory in Detroit. Page 143 has an extraordinary image of Signal Hill in Los Angeles with the horizon bristling with oil derricks and just in front of them a neat suburban housing estate. All these wonderful photos are packaged in a beautiful book with an excellent essay about the photographer on the first forty-one pages. Handsomely designed by Katy Homans (most well known for several attractive Lee Friedlander titles) with a photo a page, generous margins and centered captions. Excellent matt art paper with duotones in a 175 screen produced by Italy's top art printer Mondadori. This book of Hoppe's work should establish his position as a significant contributor to American photography. ***SEE SOME INSIDE PAGES by clicking 'customer images' under the cover.

E.O. HOPPE'S AMERIKA: MODERNIST PHOTOGRAPHS FROM THE 1920s tells of world-famous photographer Hoppe's arrival in America - and how and why eighty years later his name has nearly been forgotten despite his influential work, much of which was hidden in English and German archives. While many photos are repeated in this catalog, E.O. HOPPE'S AMERIKA provides a celebration of his works and influence which enjoys unprecedented access to the Hoppe archives and packs in over a hundred forty images revealing his genius. Any college-level art library holding must have this. Diane C. Donovan California Bookwatch