The Big Picture: America in Panorama
" 'The panoramic photograph is a strange and compelling medium,' Luc Sante writes in his introduction to this involving book, 'the widest of wide screens, a time-lapse that occurs in a single frame, an ostensibly faithful record that can blur the line between fact and fiction.' This book collects nearly 100 crisp duotone photographs, most of them taken early in the 20th century, images that sometimes encompass a full 360 degrees.... The faces in each of those photographs seem to intone, the author writes, 'We were here, and it mattered.' " - New York Times"The turn of the twentieth century was marked by a unique desire to preserve everyday life on wide-angle film, from momentous occasions to quotidian events. With its rare assortment of never-before-published panoramas, The Big Picture offers a quirky look back at this time in American history." - Reader's Digest.com"The panoramic postcard wasn't an American invention, but as Luc Sante notes in an introduction to this happily idiosyncratic collection, the medium reached its apogee here, in a nation that seemed to demand expansiveness in all things. Its horizontal images bring a sense of immediacy to a history momentous (gatherings of suffragettes and civil rights advocates), quotidian (conventions, bake-offs, ballgames) and downright weird (a 'Midget Swing Revue'). Sapan's thoughtful narration is supplemented by short essays from an unlikely and winning assortment of luminaries, among them Dick Cavett, Anna Quindlen, Kathleen Turner, and Roger Staubach " - Dallas Morning News"Photo collectors, who are legion, will be thrilled with a copy of The Big Picture: America in Panorama, by Josh Sapan. Nearly a century ago, there were lots of innovations in photography. One of those -- a panoramic group photo that sometimes took in a full 360-degree view -- was an enormous hit. Today, we still marvel at pictures that show soldiers, bathing beauties and circuses. Today's America looks fine, but these photographs capture a bit of magic that I fear has been lost forever." - San Jose Mercury News