Product Details
Hardcover
Knopf
Published 1992
From Library Journal
The Claudian Aqueduct was built during the Empire's glory days just southeast of Rome, now an area best known for its proximity to Cinecitta, Italy's Hollywood. The book's essays and photography honor the vestiges of that ancient conduit and the surrounding countryside. Presented along with historical background about the land and the artists who have used it as their muse are 88 of Sternfeld's full-color photographs (including seven foldouts), which have been exhibited at Boston's Museum of Fine Arts. Much of the photography is of ruins, which look like alien monuments sitting uncomfortably amidst the Mediterrean terrain beside recognizable objects of modern industry and waste now scarring the region. The result is a strong and poignant mixture of dilapidation of both the old and new Roman cultures. The book opens, "Joel Sternfeld's photographs of the Roman Campagna take us to a sacred place," and the dominant stormy skies in these photographs appear to signal the gods' displeasure with the uncontrolled urban sprawl descending upon this august landscape. Recommended for most libraries, particularly those with strong photography collections and collections on Italy.
- David Nudo, New York City
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. |
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