Reconstructing the View - by Rebecca A Senf & Stephen J Pyne (Hardcover)

About the Book

Published in association with Phoenix Art Museum and Center for Creative Photography.

Book Synopsis

Using landscape photography to reflect on broader notions of culture, the passage of time, and the construction of perception, photographers Mark Klett and Byron Wolfe spent five years exploring the Grand Canyon for their most recent project, Reconstructing the View. The team's landscape photographs are based on the practice of rephotography, in which they identify sites of historic photographs and make new photographs of those precise locations. Klett and Wolfe referenced a wealth of images of the canyon, ranging from historical photographs and drawings by William Bell and William Henry Holmes, to well-known artworks by Edward Weston and Ansel Adams, and from souvenir postcards to contemporary digital images drawn from Flickr. The pair then employed digital postproduction methods to bring the original images into dialogue with their own. The result is this stunning volume, illustrated with a wealth of full-color illustrations that attest to the role photographers--both anonymous and great--have played in picturing American places.

Rebecca Senf's compelling essay traces the photographers' process and methodology, conveying the complexity of their collaboration. Stephen J. Pyne provides a conceptual framework for understanding the history of the canyon, offering an overview of its discovery by Europeans and its subsequent treatment in writing, photography, and graphic arts.

Review Quotes

"[Creates] an entirely new landscape, one in which a window into the past has been opened and time passing can be seen as only part of the story."-- "Slate" (11/30/2012 12:00:00 AM)

"An arresting visual interpretation of a visual icon."-- "Southwestern Historical Quarterly" (4/1/2013 12:00:00 AM)

"Vexing, dreamy, beautiful, and provocative."--Jake Abrahamson "Sierra Club" (4/1/2013 12:00:00 AM)

"Like ace jigsaw puzzlers, Klett and Wolfe take on the challenge of the Grand Canyon's vastness and relatively homogeneous topography in this latest reconstruction."-- "Photo-Eye" (12/17/2012 12:00:00 AM)

"One of the best Grand Canyon photography books to come along in recent years."-- "Arizona Daily Sun" (12/9/2012 12:00:00 AM)

"[This] project is a large and time consuming undertaking, one that reveals something entirely new about the various vantage point of the canyon."-- "Blend Image" (12/1/2012 12:00:00 AM)

"A stunning volume."--Marilyn Dahl "Shelf Awareness" (12/21/2012 12:00:00 AM)

"An incredible work of art. . . . A wonderful book to return to time and again to see what you might have missed the previous times or simply to appreciate the genius that went into it."-- "National Parks Traveler" (11/16/2012 12:00:00 AM)

"Brilliant."-- "American Photo" (12/7/2012 12:00:00 AM)

"Senf's obvious fondness for the artists and their work only adds to the readability and clarity of her essay. . . . Recommended."--L. M. Bliss, San Diego State University "Choice" (4/1/2013 12:00:00 AM)

About the Author

Rebecca A. Senf is Norton Family Curator at the Center for Creative Photography at the University of Arizona, Tucson, and at the Phoenix Art Museum.
Stephen J. Pyne is Professor, Human Dimensions Faculty, School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University. He is the author of How the Canyon Became Grand.