Bookbot

Steve Gottlieb

    Washington, Portrait of a City
    American Icons
    • American Icons

      Photographs by Steve Gottlieb

      A biker, festooned in ritual leather, astride a Harley. The New York skyline. A bison cow and calf shaking off the early Spring snow at Yellowstone National Park. The U. S. Capitol at dusk. The Pentagon from above.These are just a few of the 145 enduring images that comprise photographer Steve Gottlieb's tribute to things that are quintessentially American, from hot dogs at the ball park to the somber vigil of Marine guards at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington Cemetery. Photographed over a period of two decades as part of what Gottlieb unapologetically refers to as an "icon odyssey," the images are organized into eleven distinct sections that portray both the heroic and the ordinary, the quietly symbolic and the overtly patriotic. Embellished with appropriate quotations from some of America's most insightful commentators, from Alexis de Tocqueville to Bill Bryson, the collective force of the images brings unity to the idea of the American experience. American Icons comprises, in the words of the photographer, "the people, places, and things that have, by virtue of history, nostalgia, culture, taste, topographical beauty, or simple familiarity, come to symbolize our country."

      American Icons2001
      3,0
    • In this poignant volume author/photographer Gottlieb turns his lens to the nation's capital perhaps the most photographed city on earth. Through Gottlieb's remarkable eye, Washington, D.C. is portrayed in all seasons, at all times of day, and in every subtle variation of light. Water on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, for example, eerily suggests the blood of the slain president as it reflects the crimson hues of the rising sun. By contrast, the pageantry of a block of Georgetown row houses is presented as a palette of outrageous colors, from lavender to robin's egg blue to maroon. These photographs provide an interpretation of our nation's capital that is both stirring and joyful, reverent yet luminous.

      Washington, Portrait of a City1985