ICONIC NEW YORK Book Review – Expansive!

After some sparse intro, we turn the page to see five—five!...spectacular views of the Statue of Liberty.  We then follow the photographer flying into Manhattan via a series of aerial photos from high-resolution cameras; then we ferry our way into the city, getting yet another view of Liberty through an Ellis Island window.  The colors (or tonalities for monochromatic photos) are spot on, in the opinion of this photographer.

Photographer Christopher Bliss works with large format cameras to create tack-sharp, carefully composed images of each New York City icon—and icons they are! Bliss has selected important sites, special both for NYC natives and visitors alike.

You will find Bliss’s works in museums.  This is his fourth book on the Big Apple— an expanded edition that includes 50 pages of new photography.  The images in this book are generally grand vistas of urban landscape, many of which are peopled.  This is not, however, a book about New Yorkers. The people are figures in the landscape, not individuals interacting in their neighborhoods.  The approach is expansive, not intimate.

ICONIC NEW YORK is for natives and tourists alike

Bliss provides a brief, one-page preface, with translations into German and French, paying homage perhaps to the publisher teNeues’ German home office, and pointing directly to the European tourist as potential buyer. Bliss’s bio, and a facing portrait, take up all of two pages, at the back, with a last page colophon.  Production values—image editing, layout, production, decisions on how much copy to mix in with the images, etc. --  are excellent, in the view of this photographer and devotee of photography books.

You too, however, may find that the large number of photos is both a blessing and a bit of a problem. Some pages include as many as six photos, although most multi-photo pages have fewer, two to four.  Many of the larger images bleed right to the edge of the page, and many cover both left and right pages, cutting the photo in half in the book’s gutter.  Others may concur with this approach to book design; for this reviewer, it’s a little crowded. .  From the point of view of an American reader, a Spanish forward might also be appropriate, since it is the second most-spoken language in the United States.

This is an excellent book for both native New Yorkers and a great souvenir for the foot-sore tourist.  An ideal coffee-table book, it provides viewing pleasure to both the casual peruser and the more dedicated traveler looking for more thorough documentation.  Lovers of architecture and urban space will also love this book.

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Photo © 2019 Christopher Bliss. All rights reserved

© ICONIC NEW YORK Expanded Edition by Christopher Bliss, published by teNeues,

US$39.95

Visit the ICONIC NEW YORK page on the teNeues website for more information or to purchase.