Portraits Of The City

During the last decades, representations of medieval and early modern urban space have witnessed an increasing popularity as objects of study within the historical disciplines. Scholars with different backgrounds investigate urban landscapes in various forms and using a wide range of media. In general, such 'portraits of the city' cover different types of visual and written documents. The twelve essays gathered in this book all cover specific types of such portraits, ranging from historiographical texts and archival record, over drawings, prints and paintings to maps and real urban architectural settings. Moreover, the interdisciplinary scope results in an ample compilation of various innovative methodologies, currently applied in the fields of study and disciplines addressed in the book. 'Portraits of the City' provides a representative overview of the current state of knowledge and is in this way a relevant contribution to the international debate on representations of the city.

How can we properly acknowledge Philadelphia as our inspiration? Philadelphia has been around a long time, long before Jerome and I arrived here to make a living. This book was a long time coming. The seed was planted a while ago. We lived and worked for years in Philadelphia and as keen observers of this city we grew to love it with all its virtues and vices. It was just a matter of time before we looked at it as inspiration. It was just a matter of more time before we would recognize the complementary nature of our work. And yet we knew enough to recognize the folly of our ambition. Philadelphia, and probably any city for that matter, is just too complex to be rendered in a single book--no matter its size or scope. It lived a history deep in significance long before us and it will continue to grow and change long after we are gone. Professionals but not experts, our credentials were that we lived here as residents willing to allow our curiosity and craft to lead us to watch carefully, listen, and look at what most residents take for granted. I learned early that stories rule our lives in the city, significant events once past are repeated to friends and family until they leave their own retold impressions on our memories. However continuously linear we expect our lives to be lived, the space of time and size of memory conspire to compress experiences into events. Photographs too, perhaps like stories, capture and represent lived experience as moments. Our Philadelphia, as is all our history, is made of these moments: photographs and stories. And in our effort to find and delineate these moments we also recognized that we approached a sense of place. Circling ever closer to a shared recognition of character our work attempts to define a place not descriptively but intuitively. The book, our effort to celebrate what we share with so many others in this big beautiful city, is perhaps the appropriate acknowledgement. - Beautiful, black and white photographs by Jerome Lukowicz that provide an uncommon appraisal of the city of Philadelphia - The photographs present the city through singular views, common vistas, and vantage points that any resident or visitor would have, as they walk the streets of the city - Short texts and stories, written by Sean O'Rourke, that speak to Jerome's photographs and the experience of living in Philadelphia - The combination of photographs and stories 'shows' the physical character of the city, and 'tells' the experience of living in the city, that speaks to its architecture, urbanity and its authentic place - The same exact book is carefully packed in a lid and bottom box, offering three different cover photographs

An anthology of translated and abridged classic works by authors previously little known to Western audiences: Cobo, Garcia, Santos, Vilhena, and Leite de Barros. They present critical analyses spanning hundreds of years, emphasizing Latin American cities of the first rank: Mexico City, Lima, Buenos Aires, Salvador da Bahia, Bogota, and Sao Paulo. Paper edition (unseen), $16.95. Annotation copyright by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

This title places Dublin at the centre of a discussion about the significance of the historic urban landscape. Bringing together experts in art history, architectural history, urban studies, literature and geography, it combines detailed studies of often-neglected aspects of Dublin's past with case studies of other important world cities.

In Picturing Casablanca, Susan Ossman probes the shape and texture of mass images in Casablanca, from posters, films, and videotapes to elections, staged political spectacles, and changing rituals. In a fluid style that blends ethnographic narrative, cultural reportage, and the author's firsthand experiences, Ossman sketches a radically new vision of Casablanca as a place where social practices, traditions, and structures of power are in flux. Ossman guides the reader through the labyrinthine byways of the city, where state bureaucracy and state power, the media and its portrayal of the outside world, and people's everyday lives are all on view. She demonstrates how images not only reflect but inform and alter daily experience. In the Arab League Park, teenagers use fashion and flirting to attract potential mates, defying traditional rules of conduct. Wedding ceremonies are transformed by the ubiquitous video camera, which becomes the event's most important spectator. Political leaders are molded by the state's adept manipulation of visual media. From Madonna videos and the TV's transformation of social time, to changing gender roles and new ways of producing and disseminating information, the Morocco that Ossman reveals is a telling commentary on the consequences of colonial planning, the influence of modern media, and the rituals of power and representation enacted by the state.

This volume commemorates 600 years of the founding of Ahmedabad with essays on modernism, art, crafts, food, and heritage, by scholars who have made this city their home.

Rome is the city where past and present, spectacle and the everyday collide around every corner; where Baroque drama flourishes alongside ancient classical wonders; where necks crane to admire Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel; and where Fellini immortalized la dolce vita. This photographic portrait of Rome brings you all the history and all the...

Automobiles, trucks and SUVs make their way through Manhattan traffic on a daily basis, clogging the thoroughfares with a constant barrage of noise and pollution. Here Michael Spano concentrates on the person behind the wheel, honing in on facial expressions and upper-body positions trapped within, yet protected by, the rigid structure of the automobile. The drivers appear unaware of the busy metropolis, revealing a segment of American car culture grounded in the urban locale.