What do you think?
Rate this book
Imperial
The Imperial Valley of southeastern California and the U.S./Mexico border is a place with a heavy history and an uncertain future. It is a land of great progress and crushing failure, home to a past that includes migrant workers, Mexican laborers, struggling farmers, corporate exploitation, pollution, the forgotten paradise of the Salton Sea, and underground tunnels that housed illegal Chinese immigrants, brothels, and gambling dens. Even at the turn of the twentieth century, few settled in the Imperial Valley because of its hot desert climate and lack of water. In 1901, the Imperial Land Company recognized the area’s soil potential and diverted the waters of the Colorado River to it, in effect transforming wasteland into productive farmland.
Named for the corporation that brought it to life, the Imperial Valley, its surrounding regions (including the Coachella and Mexicali Valleys), and the people who live there are the subjects of the latest work by acclaimed author and now published photographer William T. Vollmann (who will release an epic nonfiction book about the area with Viking in 2009). “It’s an incredible area, teeming with secrets and the tension of the border,” says Vollmann of his first pictorial work. “It’s that tension that gives the place its meaning.”
Imperial is a study of a people and place on the margins, familiar territory for its author. Through his exploration, Vollmann uncovers the people and their struggles, which have been so easily pushed aside. It’s a photographic portrait of the Valley’s last decade, in which Vollmann’s pictures provide a visual identity to those who call it home. They have suffered and flourished amidst a landscape that is both breathtaking and heartbreaking, alluring and repelling.
Named for the corporation that brought it to life, the Imperial Valley, its surrounding regions (including the Coachella and Mexicali Valleys), and the people who live there are the subjects of the latest work by acclaimed author and now published photographer William T. Vollmann (who will release an epic nonfiction book about the area with Viking in 2009). “It’s an incredible area, teeming with secrets and the tension of the border,” says Vollmann of his first pictorial work. “It’s that tension that gives the place its meaning.”
Imperial is a study of a people and place on the margins, familiar territory for its author. Through his exploration, Vollmann uncovers the people and their struggles, which have been so easily pushed aside. It’s a photographic portrait of the Valley’s last decade, in which Vollmann’s pictures provide a visual identity to those who call it home. They have suffered and flourished amidst a landscape that is both breathtaking and heartbreaking, alluring and repelling.
- GenresPhotographyNonfiction
224 pages, Hardcover
Published July 20, 2009
134 people want to read
About the author
William T. Vollmann
100 books1,472 followersWilliam Tanner Vollmann is an American author, journalist, and essayist known for his ambitious and often unconventional literary works. Born on July 28, 1959, in Los Angeles, California, Vollmann has earned a reputation as one of the most prolific and daring writers of his generation.
Vollmann's early life was marked by tragedy; his sister drowned when he was a child, an event that profoundly impacted him and influenced his writing. He attended Deep Springs College, a small, isolated liberal arts college in California, before transferring to Cornell University, where he studied comparative literature. After college, Vollmann spent some time in Afghanistan as a freelance journalist, an experience that would later inform some of his works.
His first novel, You Bright and Risen Angels (1987), is a sprawling, experimental work that blends fantasy, history, and social commentary. This novel set the tone for much of his later work, characterized by its complexity, depth, and a willingness to tackle difficult and controversial subjects.
Vollmann's most acclaimed work is The Rainbow Stories (1989), a collection of interlinked short stories that explore the darker sides of human nature. His nonfiction is equally notable, particularly Rising Up and Rising Down (2003), a seven-volume treatise on violence, which was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award.
Over the years, Vollmann has continued to write prolifically, producing novels, short stories, essays, and journalistic pieces. His work often delves into themes of violence, poverty, and the struggles of marginalized people. He has received several awards, including the National Book Award for Fiction in 2005 for Europe Central, a novel about the moral dilemmas faced by individuals during World War II.
Vollmann is known for his immersive research methods, often placing himself in dangerous situations to better understand his subjects. Despite his literary success, he remains somewhat of an outsider in the literary world, frequently shunning public appearances and maintaining a low profile.
In addition to his writing, Vollmann is also an accomplished photographer, and his photographs often accompany his written work. Painting is also an art where's working on, celebrating expositions in the United States, showing his paintings. His diverse interests and unflinching approach to his subjects have made him a unique voice in contemporary American literature.
Vollmann's early life was marked by tragedy; his sister drowned when he was a child, an event that profoundly impacted him and influenced his writing. He attended Deep Springs College, a small, isolated liberal arts college in California, before transferring to Cornell University, where he studied comparative literature. After college, Vollmann spent some time in Afghanistan as a freelance journalist, an experience that would later inform some of his works.
His first novel, You Bright and Risen Angels (1987), is a sprawling, experimental work that blends fantasy, history, and social commentary. This novel set the tone for much of his later work, characterized by its complexity, depth, and a willingness to tackle difficult and controversial subjects.
Vollmann's most acclaimed work is The Rainbow Stories (1989), a collection of interlinked short stories that explore the darker sides of human nature. His nonfiction is equally notable, particularly Rising Up and Rising Down (2003), a seven-volume treatise on violence, which was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award.
Over the years, Vollmann has continued to write prolifically, producing novels, short stories, essays, and journalistic pieces. His work often delves into themes of violence, poverty, and the struggles of marginalized people. He has received several awards, including the National Book Award for Fiction in 2005 for Europe Central, a novel about the moral dilemmas faced by individuals during World War II.
Vollmann is known for his immersive research methods, often placing himself in dangerous situations to better understand his subjects. Despite his literary success, he remains somewhat of an outsider in the literary world, frequently shunning public appearances and maintaining a low profile.
In addition to his writing, Vollmann is also an accomplished photographer, and his photographs often accompany his written work. Painting is also an art where's working on, celebrating expositions in the United States, showing his paintings. His diverse interests and unflinching approach to his subjects have made him a unique voice in contemporary American literature.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
February 2, 2017
Maps: The Entity called Imperial
--Imperial. Photographs by William T. Vollmann
Subdelineations: Photoscapes (1927-2008)
Technical Notes
Notes
Photocaptions
Acknowledgments
--Imperial. Photographs by William T. Vollmann
Subdelineations: Photoscapes (1927-2008)
Technical Notes
Notes
Photocaptions
Acknowledgments
September 13, 2013
~~~~
One must not forget that Imperial is not .1. book but .2.- the second volume being the impressively large and beautiful collection of Vollmann’s 8x10 black and white prints and negative scans from the decade he spent inhabiting the entity called Imperial. It also contains what is perhaps the final chapter of Imperial- Subdelineations: Photoscapes (1927-2008).
~~~~
One must not forget that Imperial is not .1. book but .2.- the second volume being the impressively large and beautiful collection of Vollmann’s 8x10 black and white prints and negative scans from the decade he spent inhabiting the entity called Imperial. It also contains what is perhaps the final chapter of Imperial- Subdelineations: Photoscapes (1927-2008).
”I have always preferred stasis and stillness; I want everything to be eternal. I buy books about old books; I’m interested in reproductions of half-effaced frescoes in Tang Dynasty tombs. How would Moholy-Nagy remark upon my fixation on those lifeless decorations? I’ll say he’s sick and he’ll say I’m already dead. I too am obviously of my time. But what sort of time? Perhaps not everybody else’s… I assign myself the following comforting (not to mention self-gratifying) task: to be Imperial’s recording angel, preserving whatever patterns speak to me here, no matter whether I understand their “message”.
~~~~
Read
October 8, 2014It's all really very simple. If you are investing your time and (political) interest in the Entity called Imperial and also that entity called Imperial which does not coincide except in name with that County called Imperial, then you will want to have a copy of this collection of two hundred odd photographs made by Mr William T Vollmann. It is certainly not up to the task of throwing a whole lot of light on that Entity called Imperial, for in truth not much could. But what you get is a unique photographic vision. And seeing, isn't that after all what writing with Light is all about?
And of course things being as they are with the market for all things Vollmann, this gem may be yours for no more than US$3.98+shipping in
Used - Like New
D-32/ MAY HAVE SOME SHELFWEAR !
I have never been cheated out of a dollar in my life!
And of course things being as they are with the market for all things Vollmann, this gem may be yours for no more than US$3.98+shipping in
Used - Like New
D-32/ MAY HAVE SOME SHELFWEAR !
I have never been cheated out of a dollar in my life!
September 20, 2016
Do the right thing and buy this gorgeous companion piece to the book proper. It is lavishly done and a completely necessary visual component to that most visceral piece of work. Some of the portraiture is stunning, while the seemingly artless is elevated by the text which often accompanies it in Imperial. Looking for conceptual continuity? Then you know what youse gotta do. But I suspect you knew that already.
June 30, 2016
This collection of photographs taken in and around the Mexican/American border is the photo part of a two-book set by William T. Vollmann that, like his fiction, makes the reader/viewer stare face to face with the victims of, well, imperialism. Vollmann's portraits are largely framed the same way and his lens choices, along with film stock, are consistent. We are able to draw worlds of hurt from these people's eyes, see lives lost in false hopes and lies, Mexican's being arrested as well as the cowboy-type figures who patrol the borders, and a crushing sense of life being futile and painfully unfair. The themes that seem to occupy Vollmann's fiction are all present in this collection of 8 by 10 35mm film shots: the poor and forgotten human beings of this world, the destruction the American government levels onto the innocent, lives searching for some meaning, some hope, in religion or intoxicants, and the unpretentious, if eccentric, eye of Mr. Vollmann, who seems determined to make the world a better place, one story, one picture at a time. While I would recommend his fiction first, "Imperial", as a photography book, doesn't so much hit the reader as it pummels them in the gut while asking, nicely, for the reader to wake up and see their surroundings and empathize with the lost. An admirable undertaking, I look forward to seeing how the written text works alongside the photographs.
December 3, 2013
I haven't been to the border yet. But, to me, Imperial (the photo book) is successful at trying to encompass and convey what is beautiful, compelling, banal, sad, eerie, and poignant about life on both sides of the US/Mexico border. Aside from being an amazing writer, Vollmann is an excellent photographer. In Imperial, he uses a big cumbersome (and delicate) 8 x 10 camera which seems to have put his subjects at ease to present themselves honestly, in any way they wanted. So many of the portraits made me stop and daydream a little about the subjects - who they were, how they got there. He's also produced some beautiful, stark images of the natural and man-made landscape of the border area. Some of these are empty of people and seem to put you there - while others give an equal emphasis to the people shaped by or shaping the environment. Especially striking are his pictures showing people by the actual border walls, living their lives and framed by these ugly, arbitrary divisions.
February 21, 2010
I'm 100 pages into the novel, and spent some time looking through this companion book of photographs in the used book store. The photos are really helpful for visualizing the scenes in the novel. Some real raw stuff here. I own a lot of photo books, but this isn't one I'd buy - the work simply needs some editing. I know that's what people say about Vollmann's writing, and I don't agree. For the photographs it's true though.
June 15, 2023
'Should we ask Charl? Let me ask Charl. He's full of sense. The good old old fashioned kind.'
'No.'
'Not the outdated stuff neither. Horse sense. That's what Charl's got. Horse-'
'The experts have spoken. Charl is not required.'
'But, now, listen, okay, Mart? Can you listen? Will you?'
'Charl is a muddier.'
'Mart.'
'A sweetheart but a shill.'
'Mart.'
'No, this is for the professionals.'
'Now be fair.'
'The ones who know how to nurture true genius.'
'No.'
'Not the outdated stuff neither. Horse sense. That's what Charl's got. Horse-'
'The experts have spoken. Charl is not required.'
'But, now, listen, okay, Mart? Can you listen? Will you?'
'Charl is a muddier.'
'Mart.'
'A sweetheart but a shill.'
'Mart.'
'No, this is for the professionals.'
'Now be fair.'
'The ones who know how to nurture true genius.'
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews