- Paperback: 176 pages
- Publisher: Phaidon Press (Mar 1 2004)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0714843911
- ISBN-13: 978-0714843919
- Product Dimensions: 15.7 x 20.7 x 1.7 cm
- Shipping Weight: 386 g
- Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
-
Amazon Bestsellers Rank:
#305,636 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #67 in Books > Arts & Photography > Photography > Professional
- See Complete Table of Contents
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
Product Details |
Product Description
From Amazon
You know those old postcards that show the local meat-packing factory in all its cinder-block glory or the sickening colour scheme of a cheap 1970s motel room? Well, here they are. Beginning with panoramas of highways in Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York and other US states, Boring Postcards USA segues to truck stops, restaurants, motor inns, malls, airports, military bases, factories, tools and automobiles. Every image is certifiably boring, whether by dint of a photographer's ineptitude (dead-on views taken from too far away) or the sorry state of corporate architecture and interior design. And yet, as earnest advertisements for the American Way of Life they all radiate a sunny faith in the uniqueness and desirability of whatever they portray.
There's not a word of commentary in this book, but that part is up to you. Certain things begin to stand out as you flip through the pages. Like the always blue skies. (Positive thinking!) Or the potentially interesting details that are uniformly obliterated, thanks to those polite middle-distance views and the muddy qualities of cheap lithography. There's a weird tension between the blandly generic ("Fine Food" reads the only visible sign atop a low-slung white building) and the proudly local (according to the postcard caption, this is "The famous Blue Grill on U.S. 40, St. Elmo, Ill."). In its silently subversive way, Boring Postcards USA proposes that we look more closely at this hallowed form of marketing to see what it tells us about the values and standards of mainstream American culture. --Cathy Curtis --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Book Description
You know those old postcards that show the local meatpacking factory in all its cinder-block glory or the sickening color scheme of a cheap '70s motel room? Well, here they are. Beginning with panoramas of highways in Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, and other U.S. states, Boring Postcards segues to truck stops, restaurants, motor inns, malls, airports, military bases, factories, tools, and automobiles. Every image is certifiably boring, whether by dint of a photographer's ineptitude (dead-on views taken from too far away) or the sorry state of corporate architecture and interior design. And yet, as earnest advertisements for the American Way of Life, they all radiate a sunny faith in the uniqueness and desirability of whatever they portray.There's not a word of commentary in this book, but that part is up to you. Certain things begin to stand out as you flip through the pages. Like the always blue skies. (Positive thinking!) Or the potentially interesting details that are uniformly obliterated, thanks to those polite middle-distance views and the muddy qualities of cheap lithography. There's a weird tension between the blandly generic ("Fine Food" reads the only visible sign atop a low-slung white building) and the proudly local (according to the postcard caption, this is "The famous Blue Grill on U.S. 40, St. Elmo, Ill."). In its silently subversive way, Boring Postcards proposes that we look more closely at this hallowed form of marketing to see what it tells us about the values and standards of mainstream American culture. --Cathy Curtis
Tag this product(What's this?)Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organize and find favorite items. |
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
a really rather special little book,
This review is from: Boring Postcards USA (Hardcover)
Boring Postcards, collected and edited by Magnum photographer Martin Parr, composed 160 of the dullest British postcards from the fifties, sixties and seventies, touched a national nerve at the same time as it confirmed many foreigners' preconceptions of the British. As the Sunday Times critic discussed at the time: individually they were a kitsch hoot, but collectively they referred to the spirit and soul of a Britain vanished for ever.For this collection Martin Parr has turned his eye to the USA. The format remains exactly the same: the only text included being the names of the various different postcard publishers whose products are included. The images, again 160 of them, are left to speak for themselves and strict criteria have been applied to the definition of "boring". Either its composition, content, or the characters featured must be arguably boring or it must be devoid of any subject matter which might conventionally be described as interesting. Rather than comparing Boring Postcards USA to its only slightly older English cousin however, it is perhaps more appropriate to regard it within the established photographic genre which attempts to define and deal with notions of Americanness. To name but a few this long established genre includes the work of: Alexander Gardner, Lewis Hine, Edward Weston, Ansel Adams, Walker Evans, Robert Adams, Lewis Baltz, Robert Frank and, perhaps more relevant to Parr's oeuvre, Bill Owens. Looked at in this light, as Martin Parr is certainly aware, Boring Postcards USA has some way to climb; but for all that there is an appropriateness in using images made for mass consumption as a window on the ultimate consumer society. Certainly the humour shines through: taconite for anyone curious turns out to be a type of hard rock used as iron ore and the book, perhaps in spite of itself, seems bigger than itself. "Moving on", "My Four Wheels" and the notion of "Mom and Apple Pie" all feature. On a personal note I lament the exclusion of the famous Airstream caravan but echoes of previous work do indeed sneak through. Could for example the large veneered television on which Ronald Regan appears in Bill Owens' Suburbia have in fact been a Spartan Way Imperial? Did Matthew Brady make pictures near to what would later become the Gettysburg Interchange? And most crucial of all is the American sense of humour, sometimes self conscious and reportedly devoid of irony, ready for the attentions of Martin Parr? Let's hope so, for like last year's this is a really rather special little book. I await with bated breath the advent of Boring Postcards Belgium.
2.0 out of 5 stars
Boring Postcards,
By
This review is from: Boring Postcards USA (Hardcover)
In a "nut shell", I felt that this was not "money well spent".I enjoyed looking at the postcards, but was disappointed at how many were offered (only one per 6"x8" page, total, about 175). I would have liked it a lot more if someone else had paid for it. Maybe I can sell it at a yard sale for a buck.
5.0 out of 5 stars
just bought some,
By Cynthia M Reed (Providence, RI United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Boring Postcards USA (Hardcover)
Saw this book in L.A. and had to buy it. Then went away for a vacation and was motivated to buy the "boring" postcards at a thrift store. Thank you boring postcards! My friends will now be like "What the hell?"
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
Want to see more reviews on this item?
|
Most recent customer reviews |
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
- Books > Arts & Photography > Design & Decorative Arts > Graphic Design > Commercial
- Books > Arts & Photography > Museums & Collections > Museums > Exhibition Catalogues
- Books > Arts & Photography > Photography > Collections, Catalogues & Exhibitions
- Books > Arts & Photography > Photography > Photo Essays
- Books > Arts & Photography > Photography > Portraits
- Books > Arts & Photography > Photography > Professional
- Books > Arts & Photography > Photography > Travel
- Books > History > Historical Study > Social History
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
