Crossing the Frontier: Photographs of the Developing West, 1849 to the Present

by Richard Rodríguez, Sandra Phillips, Aaron Betsky

Poignant and provocative, Crossing the Frontier is the first book to trace the tradition of landscape photography in the American West, with over 150 images, many never before published. From the gold rush to the great railroad constructions, the early images featured here chart the rapid advance of industrialization during the nineteenth century. More recent photographs convey the complicated aftereffects of this westward expansion, documenting the trail of human encroachment on the natural environment. Published in conjunction with a major photographic exhibition, this volume features work by many important classic and contemporary photographers, as well as essays on the photography, mythology, geology, and architecture of the West by four distinguished authors.

Paperback

First published November 1, 1996

About the author

Richard Rodríguez is an American writer who became famous as the author of Hunger of Memory: The Education of Richard Rodríguez (1982). His work has appeared in Harper's, The American Scholar, the Los Ángeles Times Magazine, and The New Republic. Richard's awards include the Frankel Medal from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the International Journalism Award from the World Affairs Council of California. He has been nominated for the Pulitzer Prize in non-fiction; and the National Book Critics' Award.

Reviews

[Ivy]

The photographs in this are gorgeous and stunning. This is mainly a collection of photographs of the American west,from evidence of Manifest Destiny to Frederick Jackson Turner to modern era. I am only now going back and reading the frontpieces. The highlight of this book for me is a photograph of San Francisco circa 1868 taken from the base of Twin Peaks; it's somewhat rare to see photographs of the area that is now our loveable Castro-Mission. If you have any interest in the history of the West, you'll love this book.