Describes a day in the life of a tugboat in the New York harbor.

Tugboat

PLOWDEN, David

Children's Books

Atheneum

Bridges: The Spans of North America

Whether built of stone, brick, wood, iron, steel, or concrete, bridges have captivated our imaginations more than any other man-made structures. Whether built of wood, stone, iron, steel, or concrete, bridges have captivated our imaginations more than any other man-made structures. In David Plowden's words, "there is no more overt, powerful, or rational expression of accomplishment―of man's ability to build." And Americans, in particular, have excelled in this structural art. This book explores in depth how, when, where, and by whom the most important North American bridges were built. Over 185 of Plowden's superb photographs allow us to dwell on the most important scientific and aesthetic qualities of each bridge. In addition, Plowden has included original designs and drawings of structures―some unbuilt, gone, or dramatically altered―illuminating less obvious aspects of these engineering marvels and introducing us to bridges we otherwise would never have seen. In his extensive text, Plowden vividly records the discoveries, misconceptions, struggles, failures, and triumphs of the men who dedicated their energies to bridge design and construction. In the more than twenty-five years since this classic book was first published, bridges have been lost, and others have been built; some of the best examples of new bridges are included in this new, revised edition. All the photographs have been reprinted to achieve the best duotone reproduction. With this new edition, Bridges is the most thorough and beautiful volume ever published on the subject―a passionate and powerful argument for our continued reverence of these wonderful structures. Over 185 photographs

Arts & Photography

Individual Artists

W.W. Norton & Co., Inc.

Photographs depict freight trains, locomotives, sections of tracks, bridges, grain elevators, depots, stations, ticket offices, waiting rooms, railroad yards, and railroad workers

A Time of Trains

History

Americas

A tribute to the barn by the master documentarian of our time. As an elemental part of our landscape and our history, barns evoke childhood memories for many of us, recollections of a simpler way of life. Regardless of their size or shape, their forms follow their functions. They are honest. They are beautiful. And they are rapidly vanishing. Across the land we see abandoned farms with barns falling down, being torn down, and only occasionally being converted to other uses. As urban sprawl eats up the countryside and food-producing Goliaths put small farmers out of business, the need for old barns has diminished. For most of his life as a photographer, David Plowden has admired and photographed barns. In recent years, as their disappearance accelerated, he made it his mission to document these beautiful structures, before they too are lost. The result is this beautiful book, his hymn to the American barn. 130 duotone photographs

David Plowden: The American Barn

W.W.Norton&Company

Midwestern rural America is captured in photographs of the farmhouses, furnishings, barns, and grain elevators, as well as the men and women who live and work in the region

Sense of Place

Photography & Video

From freighters in motion and intricate machinery in the engine room, to the men who operate and maintain the vessels, these photographs represent a testament to the vanishing era of steam. Since the mid-1850s when coal-fired, reciprocating-engined steamboats were first heralded as a swift and reliable method of freight transportation, these majestic vessels have criss-crossed the Great Lakes transporting everything from coal to iron ore and cement. Until the advent of the diesel locomotive engine, the speed and efficiency of the lake freighters was unchallenged. Today, however, the massive fleet has been reduced to a handful, and soon may be extinct.

The End of an Era: The Last of the Great Lake Steamboats

Whether built of stone, brick, wood, iron, steel, or concrete, bridges have captivated our imaginations more than any other man-made structures. Whether built of wood, stone, iron, steel, or concrete, bridges have captivated our imaginations more than any other man-made structures. In David Plowden's words, "there is no more overt, powerful, or rational expression of accomplishment―of man's ability to build." And Americans, in particular, have excelled in this structural art. This book explores in depth how, when, where, and by whom the most important North American bridges were built. Over 185 of Plowden's superb photographs allow us to dwell on the most important scientific and aesthetic qualities of each bridge. In addition, Plowden has included original designs and drawings of structures―some unbuilt, gone, or dramatically altered―illuminating less obvious aspects of these engineering marvels and introducing us to bridges we otherwise would never have seen. In his extensive text, Plowden vividly records the discoveries, misconceptions, struggles, failures, and triumphs of the men who dedicated their energies to bridge design and construction. In the more than twenty-five years since this classic book was first published, bridges have been lost, and others have been built; some of the best examples of new bridges are included in this new, revised edition. All the photographs have been reprinted to achieve the best duotone reproduction. With this new edition, Bridges is the most thorough and beautiful volume ever published on the subject―a passionate and powerful argument for our continued reverence of these wonderful structures. Over 185 photographs

An elegy for our changing landscape by a master photographer. Since making his earliest documentary photographs in the 1950s, David Plowden has honored those proud structures and places that America has discarded; from brawny commercial and industrial centers to small towns and farms. He reveres the honest work and spirit that built them. But the scene has changed much in the last five decades, and what's left of the honesty of small communities and the working of the land is all but gone, dealt a death blow by outsourcing, conglomerization, and our incessant drive to buy cheap at any cost. The America of these photographs is a bittersweet reminder of things once cherished and a life no longer possible. Deserted Main Streets and crumbling facades stare at us blindly. Abandoned houses and buildings reach back to ground. Plowden's work is a sad symphony; incomparably and irresistibly beautiful, while reminding us of our loss. 77 duotone photographs

A Handful of Dust: Disappearing America

This signed, numbered, and limited edition comes with an exclusive print. "No one has photographed America as has David Plowden.... He is one of the great artists of our time."―David McCullough This beautiful volume is both a tribute to and a celebration of the photographer who, more than anyone else, has given us a visual record of our mark on the land over the last half-century. David Plowden's beautiful black-and-white images reveal his great respect for man's ingenuity and honest work, documenting a disappearing landscape of industry, small towns, wonderful devices, and noble structures. David McCullough writes, "Plowden has produced some of the most powerful photographs we have of man-made America. He is propelled, driven, by a sense of time running out and the feeling that he must not just make a record, but confer a kind of immortality on certain aspects of American civilization before they vanish." As Walker Evans gave us the first half of the twentieth century, David Plowden has given us the second. David Plowden: Vanishing Point represents the best of this magnificent body of work. 280 duotone photographs

David Plowden: Vanishing Point: Fifty Years of Photography

The great Midwestern landscape is celebrated by the noted photographer in magnificent reproductions of his work. Walt Whitman celebrated the American plains thus: “While I know the standard claim is that Yosemite, Niagara Falls, the upper Yellowstone and the like afford the greatest natural shows, I am not so sure but the Prairies and Plains, while less stunning at first sight, last longer, fill the esthetic sense fuller, precede all the rest, and make North America’s characteristic landscape.” When David Plowden traveled from his native East Coast to the Midwest, he was stunned by the landscape Whitman describes. In the years that followed he became enthralled by its vast open spaces and wildly changing skies. Fields of wheat, grain, and corn, farms and grain elevators became the subjects of his photographs. The best of his work over the past thirty-five years is presented here, impeccably reproduced in a generous format that does justice to the work of one of America’s foremost photographers and printmakers. 65 photographs

Heartland: The Plains and the Prairie

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by PLOWDEN, David. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by PLOWDEN, David

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by PLOWDEN, David. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Tugboat

Bridges: The Spans of North America

A Time of Trains

David Plowden: The American Barn

Sense of Place

The End of an Era: The Last of the Great Lake Steamboats

Bridges: The Spans of North America

A Handful of Dust: Disappearing America

David Plowden: Vanishing Point: Fifty Years of Photography

Heartland: The Plains and the Prairie