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The Wonderful World of Albert Kahn: Colour Photographs from a Lost Age | 
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| Author: David Okuefuna
Publisher: BBC Books
Category: Book
List Price: £35.00
Buy New: £19.50
You Save: £15.50 (44%)
New (29) Used (6) from £16.98
Rating:  3 reviews
Sales Rank: 4443
Media: Hardcover
Pages: 336
Shipping Weight (lbs): 3.7
Dimensions (in): 9.4 x 9.3 x 1.6
ISBN: 1846074584
EAN: 9781846074585
ASIN: 1846074584
Publication Date: April 24, 2008
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
Condition: Unwanted present. perfect condition.
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| Customer Reviews:
Magnificent window on history. Highly recommended August 21, 2008
Hooligween (Kernow, Great Britain)
This heavyweight hardback is an absolute treasure. It reproduces a selection of colour photos from a personal archive which was started by Albert Kahn in 1909. The collection runs through the next twenty years until Kahn's finds ran out in 1931, and so records all aspects of life at the beginning of the 20th century.
Kahn, a millionaire banker, despatched a team of photographers around the world to capture the essence of many different cultures. He established a collection of over 72,000 photos -- many of them in colour, which was the ground-breaking technology of the time. This book gives an overview of the collection with some of the most fascinating / poignant images organised by location; Europe, The Americas, Balkans, Middle East, Indochina and Far East, with special sections for the First World War and Portraits plus essays on the man himself and how autochrome photography was used.
I adored the TV series which accompanied the book, and longed to see more of the images with a more detailed expert commentary (although it doesn't look as if the BBC are going to put it out on dvd -- shame!). This book fulfils that expectation, offering a simply massive selection of images accompanied by an explanation of when, where, who and what the heck is happening.
Some of the shots are completely everyday (like 'men moving furniture, Reims, 1917) or 'men cutting stone, Shenyang, 1913) but every shot reveals an array of information about the era and the people. Many photos show a time before an industrial revolution (where a monolithic stone is laboriously cut by hand, for instance), or highlight the horrors of the landscape of the First World War in France. There are some simply terrifying pictures taken from a soldier's viewpoint across the battlefield, and some wonderful shots of early submarines, airships and biplanes.
The book contains 368 photos in colour and runs to nearly 350 pages. It's a technical achievement in itself -- to have reproduced the slightly surreal colours of autochrome like this must have taken months of careful work. The text is ideal, too; succinct, informative and revealing.
Perfect gift for anyone who has an interest in 20th century history.
9/10
Excellent! July 31, 2008
Mr. R. Tarr (Toulouse, France)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
This is a fantastic book. Richly illustrated, with just enough contextual information to make sense of each picture but not so much as to detract from the images themselves, which are the main feature. The ultimate "coffee table" book!
an excellent book May 29, 2008
Stringer (York, UK)
11 out of 11 found this review helpful
This is a beautiful book full of mesmerising pictures and worth every penny. It is a remarkable thought to think that these scenes are frozen from over almost 100 years. A wonderful book by Okuefuna
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